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LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



t 



SOME GLIMPSES 



Ma. 



INTO 



LIFE 



IN THE 



FAR EAST 




p, 



si 

J. T.~ THOMSON, F.R.G.S., 

LATE GOVERNMENT SURVEYOR, SINGAPORE. 



SECOND EDITION. 




LONDON: 
EICHAKDSON & COMPANY, 23, CORNHILL. 

1865. 

[The rigid of Translation is reserved. .] 



PREFACE. 



I had long left the regions in which the incidents 
related in this work took place. I sought out 
other and distant spheres of action and enterprise, 
and I became engaged in projects and pursuits 
totally disconnected with the tenor of my former 
life. Notwithstanding the absorbing nature of my 
new avocations, I never forgot the Far East, for 
it was the arena on which my early life-dreams 
were founded ; the scene of my early struggles and 
the source of many reminiscences, whether of joy or 
sorrow. 

The ties that bound me to the Far East, it is true, 
had been entirely severed ; yet I cast many a fond 
remembrance back to the friends I had left behind 
me, and often were my wandering thoughts conveyed 
to the spots endeared to me by the associations of 
early manhood. 

The time at length came when leisure was given 
me. The long winter nights of the temperate zone 



vi 



PREFACE. 



were dull. My wife must sometimes be engaged in 
the duties of the household, and the gre} r cat 
purring on the rug was no company after the young 
folks had retired. In this dilemma I was looking 
over the advertisements of a magazine, and a strange 
yet familiar word attracted my attention. It was a 
most unusual word — a word of no uncommon 
length, but it struck me to the very heart. The 
word was " Quedah." I started as if I had seen the 
ghost of my old Malay friend " Gamut." Who can 
write about Quedah, or as I write it " Keddah ?" I 
looked again ; it was " Quedah," by Captain Sherard 
Osborn, R.N. Osborn, I reflected ; can this be 
the little midshipman who used to be in gunboat 
No. 3, commanded by Jadee ? I must write at 
once to my bookseller, and see what young Osborn 
has to say about my old Malay haunts. I beg his 
pardon, I see he is now " C.B.," and an " Officier de 
la Legion d'Honneur" 

The book duly came by post, with the old Corn- 
hill stamp on it. I rolled my arm-chair close to 
the fire, ordered the children off to their beds, and 
finished every syllable of Osborn, even to the risk 
of a curtain lecture — happily few and far between. 
" Quedah " rolled up old memories. My old Malay 
acquaintances flickered before my mind's eye like 
phantasmagoria. I felt myself paddling up the 
Juru again with Oamut, Doih, Abraim, and Yusof. 
I thought, cc Young Osborn had more in him than 
I gave him credit for. He has written a most 



PKEFACE. 



vii 



spirited and interesting book about his adventures 
on Malayan waters. The winter nights are long ; 
why should I not write another book about Malayan 
lands?" No sooner thought than begun. I pro- 
ceeded to my self-imposed task. 

I have been too long separated from the dramatis 
persona? to have other than systems to deal with. 
The actors and incidents transpired nearly thirty 
years back. In what I have related, therefore, I 
have only one object in view — viz., to give an 
illustration of the Far-Eastern social system as I 
found it. Incidents cannot be related without 
having persons to speak and act for you. So when 
I have had to dilate on private persons and events, 
the names, dates, and places have been so changed 
as to exclude the possibility of trespassing on confi- 
dence. When the public acts of public men are 
reviewed, I have been less tender. When I write 
regarding the avarice, venality, or ridiculous im- 
propriety of public men, the names attached to the 
parties are fictitious. All are long ago dead and 
gone, so the feelings of innocent and surviving 
friends must be respected. This has been the 
disagreeable part of my undertaking ; but I felt my 
illustrations would not have been complete without 
it. If any now living should take my critical 
sketches to themselves, let them look back thirty 
years, and they will not fail to detect one or two 
other individuals to whom the sketches are equally 
applicable. It is always more agreeable to praise 



viii 



PREFACE. 



than to blame ; and if some of those whom I have 
mentioned with respectful admiration be yet living, 
I trust they will forgive my audacity. 

If this first volume be deemed worthy of public 
attention, then I will bring out the second, which 
is nearly ready for the press. But I await the 
verdict. 

With the above remarks, I now offer my winter's 
work to the discerning public. 



London, Jan. 1864. 



The Author 



1 



CONTENTS. 



« 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. — The Straits of Sunda .. .. .. 1 

II. — Batavia .. .. .. .. .. 5 

III. — The Last Plunge .. ., 11 

IV. — Singapore .. .. .. .. 14 

V. — The Malacca Captain .. .. .. 17 

VI. -Malacca 22 

VII.— Pulo Pinang 27 

VIIL— The Dinner Party 31 

IX. — The Church .. .. .. .. 37 

X. — Meccawee . .. .. . ..41 

XI. — An Excursion .. .. .. .. .. 46 

XII. — Native Marriage Ceremony ..- .. 56 

XIII. — Kockchai . . . . . . ... . . . . 60 

XI V. — The Fatal Accident .. .. .. .. 66 

XV. — Penang Hills .. .. .. 70 

XVI. — The Indiaman .. .. 74 

XVII.— The Kinduri 78 

XVIIL— The Devil Cast Out 86 



b 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX. — The Land Purchase .. .. .. 91 

XX. — Oamut .. .. .. .. 97 

XXI. — Oppressions .. .. .. .. 106 

XXII. — Despotic Officialism .. .. .. 113 

XXIII. — Che Kota 116 

XXIV. — Disclosures and Eeflections .. .. 121 
XXV. — A Water Excursion .. .. .. 129 

XXVI. — Another Eaid .. .. .. ..134 

XXVII.— The Boar Hunt 144 

XXVIII. — Reptiles and Insects .. .. .. 147 

XXIX.— Keddah Disturbances .. .. 153 

XXX. — Keddah History .. .. .. ..160 

XXXI. — Superstitions .. .. .. ..168 

XXXII. — Ramasamy Pillay .. .. .. .. 173 

XXXIII. — Native Connections .. .. .. 178 

XXXIV. — The First Chinese War .. .. 182 
XXXV. — Sir George Bonham .. .. .. 187 

XXXVI.— The Nonia or Nona 194 

XXXVII. — Return to Singapore .. .. .. 201 

XXXV11L— Terumbo Myet 211 

XXXIX. — Captain Samuel Congalton .. .. 217 

XL.— Sungei Kallang .. .. .. .. 226 

XLI. — Captain William Scott .. .. .. 231 

XLII. — Gunong Poolai .. .. .. 236 

XLIII. — The Jew of Bagdad .. .. .. 242 

XL TV. — The Eurasian Family .. .. ..249 

XLV. — The Delhi Moonshee .. .. .. 255 

XL VI.— The Serenade .. .. .. .. 260 

XLVII. — Capitan Donker .. 262 



CONTENTS. si 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XL VIII. — Governor Butterworth .. .. 269 

XLIX. — Native Burial Grounds .. .. .. 280 

L. — An English Ship taken by Chinese .. 285 

LI. — An English Ship taken by Malays .. 292 

LII. — Malay Mutiny Suppressed .. 298 

LIII. — A Black Man made White .. .. 802 

LIV.— Whampoa 307 

LY. — Malacca once more .. .. .. 312 

LVI. — Sungei Baroo .. .. .. 317 

L VII.— The Kissang 321 

LVIII. — Abdulla bin Abdul Kader Moonshee .. 323 



SOME GLIMPSES INTO LIFE 

IN 

THE FAR EAST. 



CHAPTEE I. 

THE STRAITS OF SUNDA. 

Towards the end of June, 183 — , the gallant 

barque C , of <3r — • — , was bounding over the 

waves, borne by favourable and gentle gales. We 
had been three months out of sight of Old England, 
and were now expecting to see the land of our 
destination. The captain and I were in the fore- 
top-gallant yard for hours, in the hope of sighting 
the mountain tops. All was anxiety, after so long 
a voyage. Our fellow-passengers, by overstraining 
their eyes, imagined that they saw land long before 
we did ; yet Christmas Island was first descried 
from the mast-head long after they had persuaded 
themselves that they had seen it from the deck. 
Belief is often the offspring of desire. How lovely 
did the woody slopes and sandy beaches of that 
lonely isle appear to us as we sped past it on our 
way to the far-famed Java ! A restless night sue- 
y b 



2 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



ceeded, and the evening of the next day found us 
under the lee of Sunda. The rolling waves subsided 
to a dead calm ; and, late in the evening, the ripple 
of the land wind was observed to be approaching. 
Suddenly the Scotch terrier was seen running 
sniffing along the weather bulwarks. Its delicate 
scent had detected the aromatic gale of India about 
which I had so often read, and which I now began 
to inhale with satisfaction and delight. 

We lay down that night in our berths intensely 
longing for the scene that was to open out upon the 
morrow. Yet it was full daylight, and the glorious 
tropical sun had appeared far above the horizon 
before I awoke. So when I came on deck he was 
illuminating, with his golden rays, the forest-clad 
mountains of J ava, and tinging with rich purple the 
exuberant vegetation of the shores and valleys. 
The waters were as calm as glass ; now no longer of 
the hue of the deep blue ocean, but of the brown- 
ish-green of shallow seas. We had entered the 
portal of the Indies, and lay abreast of Anjier. 
Shall I attempt a description of the scene ? I fear 
it is of little use. Certain it is that this morning 
in the Straits of Sunda often recurred to my memory 
as the most brilliant 1 had ever witnessed. 

The mountains of Java, the islands of the straits, 
and the more distant land of Sumatra, all covered 
with luxuriant tropical vegetation, — the mists rising 
from the valleys bringing out the foreground with 
distinctness, — the great beauty and gracefulness of 



THE STRAITS OF SUNDA. 



3 



the groves and clumps of tall palm trees — the lazy 
blue smoke of the villages in the bays — the fantastic 
forms of the native vessels — the tall white sails of 
the European Indiamen, and the square tautness of 
the Dutch men-of-war — all these, under the balmy, 
soothing, and mysterious influence of an Eastern 
sky, riveted our searching yet unsatisfied gaze. 

But another source of attraction soon appeared. 
Tens, twenties, and fifties, of small canoes are seen 
putting off from the shore. When distant, the 
effect of the raised arm and paddle on each side is 
most curious. On they come, in their tiny crafts, 
racing, with the swiftness of fishes, and the mirth 
of children. We are soon surrounded. The older 
sailors of our crew, communicate, in a jargon known 
to themselves, and, apparently, understood by the 
natives. That jargon is a compound of Portuguese, 
Bengalee, and Malay, and soon effects its desired 
end. Confidence is established ; and we are sur- 
rounded by a new world and new things of the 
most varied and comprehensive description. First 
the Javanese — copper-coloured, small-featured, well- 
modelled, and often handsome, at other times 
monstrously ugly — his teeth dyed black and filed 
into the form of those of a saw — a roll of tobacco 
between his lips, a handkerchief bound round his 
head, and a sarong round his loins. He is nature's 
child, and she has made him a gentleman, soft in 
manners, elastic in gait, easy in conference. But 
what has he brought with him ? Strange things, 

b 2 



4 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



too varied to enumerate. Bright plumaged birds 
in bamboo cages, fowls with black bones, cats with 
knobs instead of tails, shaddocks as large as a 
child's head, bananas, cocoa-nuts, fish, ducks, apes, 
monkeys, &c, &c. The chatter and clatter, the 
joking and chaffing, the bargaining and selling, the 
babylon of tongues — all served to dispel grave 
thoughts. Wonder and curiosity gave way to 
mirth and familiarity ; and, ere evening came on, we 
were learned in the commodities of Sunda, and no 
doubt could have enlarged freely on the various 
topics of that day to friends we left behind us, had 
our steps been homeward again. 



CHAPTER II. 



BATAYIA. 

The capital of Netherlands India was well known 
to me through the writings of Captain Cook, Craw- 
furd, and Windsor Earle. The impressions of it I 
had derived from these authorities were by no 
means favourable. So deadly and frequent were its 
fevers said to be, that the harbour had earned the 
name of "the white man's grave." The knowledge 
of this hung as a dreary incubus on my spirits, 
during the whole voyage ; and many were the mis- 
givings I had, when I learned that we were to 
remain here a month. However, as humanity can 
prepare itself for hanging, so we prepared our 
minds to undergo the ordeal of a month's con- 
tinuance in the dreaded place. The countless 
islands — some of which were clothed with verdure, 
and beautiful to behold — were pointed out as we 
passed them, and said to be peculiarly liable to 
malaria. When anchored amongst the shipping, all 
that we could discern was a low tower and some 
red tiled roofs, hidden behind a low fringe of scrub. 



6 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



stretching for miles along the margin of the calm 
waters. There were mountains in the interior, but 
the haze lifted only once during our sojourn to 
display them. Batavia, from the harbour, appeared 
as dismal as our preconceived notions had led us to 
anticipate. 

On stepping on shore at the " Booms," some 
interesting reflections were called forth. Now we 
had reached the fabled " East," renowned in 
Arabian tales, — the boundary of the Venetian 
world, — the mysterious " Java Major " of Marco 
Polo, a region unknown to the Greeks or Bomans— - 
popularly known to the modern British as the 
island of the " deadly upas tree." Strange land, 
land of the aromatic spices, the nutmeg, and the 
clove. Land from whence came sugar, coffee, sago, 
and rice. A land through which alone could the 
curious Japan ware be obtained. 

We pulled up a long canal, infested by alligators 
and crowded with grotesque native craft. The na- 
tives, in their curious costumes, squatted lazily on 
the decks, or, if engaged in boating, kept time, as 
they rowed along, to shrill and incoherent songs. 
Each verse ended with a howl — loud, vigorous, yet 
majestic. Hence the Javanese have obtained the 
name of " sea-dogs " from the Malays. 

As we entered the city, new and unaccustomed 
objects arrested our attention ; such as the native 
soldier, barefooted, keeping watch at the portal — 
the rows of whitewashed, red-tiled, old-fashioned 



BAT A VIA. 



7 



looking buildings ; the large-leafed plantain ; the 
tall stems of the cocoanut and betelnut-trees, rising 
far above the houses, and shading the streets with 
their immense bunches of feather-like leaves. Then 
there were also the diversified costumes of the 
different nations ; — the sombre-clothed Malay and 
Javanese, the white-jacketed European, the loosely- 
dressed and bald-pated Chinese, the green-robed 
and yellow-turbaned Arab, the white, blue, red and 
orange-clothed Hindostanee. Each, in turn, attracted 
the notice of the uninitiated. 

At length we arrive at the merchant's office. We 
gaze around, as our captain introduces his bills-of- 
lading to the inspection of the head of the firm. 
How pale and emaciated do the European assistants 
appear ! Yet they assure us that they are in good 
health. How yellow and sunken are the eyes of 
that quondam Lowland farmer ! Our first impres- 
sions made our hearts sink within us ; the Far East 
being our destination for many long years. 

We were taken to the Resident's office, to obtain 
leave to remain six weeks in Batavia. The non- 
compliance with this ceremony subjects us to a fine 
of 500 francs — (why should the Dutch be afraid of 
us?) We pass along many rows of dark-com- 
plexioned little officials, and wonder how they are 
able to exact so much from free-born, full-grown 
Englishmen. We succumb, and pass the ordeal. 
At length we stand before the great man, who sits 
in a dark room with green blinds to his windows. 



s 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



He is deferential and polite ; — our self-esteem re- 
vives, — and we feel thankful, bow, and retire. 

Now we call a carriage drawn by two little ponies. 
We drive through the dusty streets, though we in- 
vite suffocation. Yet the drive is charming. Por- 
ticoed and piazzaed, house after house is passed. The 
thatched dwellings of the natives are gone by ; 
and now we stop before the palace of Veltevreden. 
Evening comes on, and out pour all classes of the in- 
habitants. The Dutch paterfamilias, with his charm- 
ing daughters, parades the verandahs, or lounges 
along the canal banks. Here European Holland is 
reproduced. The band performs, and military men 
on their chargers prance around the plain. The 
wealthy civilian, with his delicate white lady, dashes 
past in his carriage and pair. The merchant-trades- 
man and the ship-master emulate the latter, often 
accompanied by their copper-coloured, dark-eyed, 
black-haired mistresses. Batavia proved to be as 
Crawfurd had described it. 

We are carried to the hospitable roof of the ship's 
consignee, and we find it to be a stately mansion of 
the pure Doric order. We alight and ascend steps 
of marble, and proceed along galleries of white 
marble. We are introduced to the lady of the 
house ; — she is dressed in white, as if for a marriage 
or a ball. We are offered sherry and bitters ; then ere 
long we withdraw to the dining-hall. This is open 
to the air on three sides, and the cool land-breeze 
wafts its grateful perfume across our burning cheeks. 



BATAVIA. 



9 



The hum of myriads of insects fills the air. Every 
dish on the table is covered with a gauze covering, 
only to be hastily taken off and replaced again. 
Soup, fish, joints, curries, puddings, fruit, and wine 
are discussed. Native servants crowd around to 
watch each motion — to minister to each desire. Our 
host and hostess charm us with their urbanity, gen- 
tleness, and true good feeling. Our first impressions 
alter, and our hearts expand. Coffee succeeds dinner, 
and time is beguiled in conversation, or at billiards. 
At 10 o'clock we retire, in that soothed disposition 
which is best enjoyed after periods of doubts, mis- 
givings, or over-excitement. 

After 10, the tokay most likely makes acquaintance 
with the stranger. It is a house-lizard, whose voice 
and single note is almost human. 

Familiar, by the descriptions of Crawfurd, with 
the licentious habits of the Batavians, and confirmed 
in the truth of the same by the passing scenes of 
the day, I was startled at the view of the couch 
that had been assigned me. It stood in the room 
over an outhouse, detached from the main building ; 
and in such a position was well suited for intrigue. 
There lay a figure — long and slim — in the centre of 
the bed. I started, — for I was yet guilty of being 
modest. The figure lay motionless. This gave me 
courage, and I glanced again. It was deadly still. 
— Could it be human ? My thoughts reverted to 
the lady of the house — her high-toned virtue and 
dignity, I felt annoyed at my suspicions. I ad- 



10 



LIFE IN THE FAE EAST. 



vanced, and, removing the coverlet, to my amuse- 
ment and relief found the cause of my perturbation 
to be a snow-white bolster, laid lengthways in the 
bed ! What was its object, next morning's conver- 
sation enlightened me. The longitudinal bolster is 
an essential portion of bed-furniture, used by the 
old residents to allay the pangs of indigestion with 
which they are habitually troubled ; — and in after 
years I also came to know its value. 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE LAST PLUNGE. 

At the end of July we were abreast of Pulo Tayo, 
at the south-west extreme of the China Sea. I shall 
ever remember it, with its steep wooded sides, rising 
as a cone out of the sea. The wind blew fair, 
and our voyage was agreeable ; but deep gloom 
pervaded each countenance ; there was much sick- 
ness, and one of our number was about being 
launched into the deep. 

The month that we lay in the roads of Batavia 
had its usual consequences,- — half the crew were 
laid up with fever, and three of them died. The 
first of these was now about to receive a sea-burial 
abreast of Pulo Tayo. Pulo Tayo has always had 
a gloomy aspect to my recollection, as it stands a 
monument of the scene now enacted. 

The deceased sailor had been known as the 
strongest man on board ; and, as I now scanned 
his pallid face, passive and immoveable, turned 
heavenwards, I read my first lesson in the weakness 
of humanity, and the uncertainty of our earthly 



12 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



tenure. The body was wrapped in cloth by the 
sailors, the feet were shotted, and the corpse was 
stretched on a board covered by the Union Jack. 
The board was laid resting on the gangway. All 
those capable of being present stood around, while 
our Scotch captain read to his Presbyterian crew, 
the touching and affecting burial service for the 
dead as contained in the Prayer-book of the English 
Church. This he did with humble and reverent 
tones. At the conclusion of the service, the board 
was raised, and the body plunged into the sea. 
The waters gurgled over our late fellow-voyager, 
the vessel sped on her way ; and no trace remained 
of the spot at which one honest fellow had been 
consigned to his long home. 

Our second mate was the next victim — a stout 
young man of plethoric habit, and lugubrious dispo- 
sition. On the voyage out, I often used to accom- 
pany him in his watch, when the turn of his 
conversation would always be towards the melan- 
choly. He was fond of spinning a long yarn, and 
these yarns were dismal, sickly, and depressing. 
His last voyage had been to Demerara, where he 
had been in hospital for six weeks. The whole of 
his companions had died of yellow fever and black 
vomit. He would relate minutely the ghastly 
details of the fevered and deadly couches of his 
companions ; and he rose to a kind of eloquence 
when describing his own sensations. The Gruinea 
trade of Africa was also a fertile subject of conver- 



THE LAST PLUNGE. 



13 



sation ; and Batavia, with all its horrors, gave a zest 
to his narrations, — pleasurable, apparently, to him, 
appalling to our raw inexperience. As a Malay 
tells tales about tigers, when we are passing through 
their tracks, so did he not abate a jot of pungency 
in his sad and sickening particulars. 

While lying in the harbour, I slept in my cabin 
out of the draught ; he, poor fellow ! had his bunk 
in the round-house, heated by the fierce rays of the 
sun. It was unbearable. He consequently slept 
on deck, exposed to the night air and miasma. 
This I believe to have been the cause of his prema- 
ture death. A fellow-passenger exposed himself in 
the same way, as did many of the crew, and he and 
they were all taken ill of fever. 

Our feeble old cook was the next victim, and he 
and the second mate were buried in Singapore 
churchyard, — a beautiful and romantic resting-place, 
sloping towards the harbour on the eastern face of 
Government Hill. On returning to Singapore, after 
some years' absence, I sought the graves of my 
fellow-voyagers, but there was no mark nor sign 
to denote where the s had been buried. 



CHAPTER IY. 



SINGAPORE. 

" Singapore ahoy !" exclaimed the man at the 
mast head as the white houses and shipping rose 
ahove the horizon while we were abreast of the 
large red cliffs. We hailed the " Queen of the 
East 5 ' with no small pleasure, for we felt we were 
about to be relieved from the sorrows of the last 
month. We soon ran up to the shipping and 
anchored in British waters. How delightful the 
change from Batavia Boads ! How striking the 
contrast ! In the foreground, busy canoes, sampans, 
and tongkangs bore their noisy and laughing native 
crews about the harbour. The stately " Hyacinth " 
showed the pennant amongst numbers of English 
merchantmen. Hundreds of Chinese junks, and 
Malay prows, lay further in shore. Behind these, 
stretched a sandy beach, glistening in the sun, and 
overhung by the graceful palm trees, the glory of 
Singapore planters. In the centre of the landscape 
was Government Hill, with its verdant lawns and 
snug bungalow ; and at its base were the ware- 



SINGAPORE. 15 

i 

houses and mansions of the merchant princes. 
Behind these was to be seen the comely undulating 
background, alternately covered with the mighty 
forest trees, and gambier and pepper gardens. 

The tallness of the forest trees standing alone, or 
in clumps on the half-cleared hills and islands, gave 
a majesty to the scenery that I have observed 
nowhere else. The forest trees in thus rising into 
the atmosphere upright and in full verdure on the 
very tops of the hills, proclaimed that they 
flourished in a clime characterized by serenity and 
repose. 

We landed, next morning, with the captain ; and 
bade him good-bye. I left the captain to seek for 
a friend whose worth, gentleness, charity, and disin- 
terested benevolence are widely known over the " Far 
East." All who had the good fortune to enjoy his 
acquaintance, will bear witness that these were the 
attributes of the late Captain William Scott. 

My stay in Singapore was short. I sailed that 
same evening for Penang, so my impressions were 
few and hasty. The Europeans seemed hearty and 
robust, good-humoured and hospitable. Well do I 
remember Coleman's ready joke and smart repartee. 
The little Malay boys who ply in the creek, have 
attracted the notice of all voyagers. So also have 
the bustling scenes on the Boat Quay, and Circular 
Boad ; for these are frequented by a mixed popula- 
tion intent on their various occupations. Here is a 
conglomeration of all eastern and western nations. 



16 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Subjects of nations at war are friendly here, they 
are bound hand and foot by the absorbing interests 
of commerce. The pork-hating Jew of Persia 
embraces the pork-loving Chinese of Chinchew. 
The cow-adoring Hindoo of Benares hugs the cow- 
slaying Arab of Juddah. Even the Englishman, 
proud yet jolly, finds it to his interest to unbend, 
and associate with the sons of Shem, whether it be 
in commerce, in sports, or at the banquet. 

The long rows of piazzas, the whitewashed build- 
ings covered with tiles, the low but cool and com- 
fortable bungalow, the princely mansions in the 
suburbs, the fine esplanade, the umbrageous arsena 
trees and the tall ru trees, were each the subject of 
remark in turn. But I need say no more at present 
as my steps will be directed towards Singapore 
again. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE MALACCA CAPTAIN. 

I awoke after a sound sleep, having laid down upon 
a hencoop. There was no fear of miasma in the 
roads of Singapore. I had taken my passage in a 
small brig bound for Penang, but could not obtain 
cabin room till we had arrived at Malacca, which, at 
this season (August), is a day's sail from Singapore. 
The cabin of the little brig had no closed berths ; 
and our skipper had his wife on board ; so this was 
the cause of my exclusion. 

After rubbing my eyes, I found we were running 
close past the Rabbit and Coney, which is the most 
picturesque locality of the straits ; for here, numer- 
ous green islands, covered with pine-apple gardens, 
surrounded us on all sides. The alternate mangrove 
bushes and glittering sands fringed the islands, 
against whose sides lapped the sky-blue waters, 
breaking in silvery spray. 

Our little brig was what is called a country vessel, 
and she traded only to the neighbouring settlements. 
Her aspect differed much from the one I had left. 

c 



18 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



The decks were roughly planked, the sides were 
weather worn, the masts were unscraped, all had a 
slovenly appearance, but what did that matter? 
The hatches even were open, — a proof that much 
care was unnecessary as there were no storms to put 
us on our mettle. The captain was of Dutch ex- 
traction, and spoke broken English, but appeared 
better at home in Malay and Hindostanee. His 
lady spoke so much less English than himself and 
so much more Malay that I had some difficulty in 
understanding her. The crew were Bengalese, and 
there were besides a number of native passengers. 
One, a Surat merchant, occupied the long boat, 
where he sat all day chewing bruised rice and smok- 
ing a hookah. He wore a low-crowned hat of 
coloured check, which had no brim, and he was clad 
in white cotton robes, flowing down to his feet. He 
sat cross-legged, easy, contented, happy — a type 
of his race ! The other noticeable passengers were 
Klings, from the Malabar coast. These were nearly 
naked, and squatted on the deck for hours, scrubbing 
their teeth with short sticks. The Surat merchant 
had an olive-coloured complexion, and was fat and 
flabby. The Klings and Bengalese were deep 
bronze, lean and lanky. 

After a refreshing wash, we sat down to breakfast, 
which was placed on a deal table fixed on the deck. 
An awning was drawn over us, and we thus enjoyed 
the luxury of the gentle gales now wafting us along. 
The breakfast consisted of rice and fish curry, to 



THE MALACCA CAPTAIN. 



19 



which simple diet, though new to me, I did ample 
justice. The breakfast was served up by a Javanese 
man-servant, — short, copper-coloured, dark-eyed, 
black-haired, and black-toothed. Their reason for 
having the teeth black is that dogs have white 
ones ! His dress consisted of a sarong only, being 
bare-footed, bare-legged, and bare-bodied, i.e. above 
the waist. No uneasiness was felt on the part of 
the lady. She had been accustomed from her infancy 
to look on nearly naked natives. Our skipper 
talked of the Javanese as a very good boy, very 
honest, and not given to cheating. The last 
characteristic I thought it strange to hear mentioned, 
as I had not been accustomed to hear of servants 
cheating. The broad good-humoured face of the 
Javanese showed that Deen was all that had been 
said of him. 

After breakfast, I lounged on the hencoop, watch- 
ing the motions of my new shipmates. It was 
Sunday, and our captain was a religious man. He 
brought out a large Dutch Bible, and laid it on the 
table. This he read attentively, at times making 
devout remarks in his best English. I was edified 
at first, but, ere long, was disconcerted. There soon 
appeared an idiosyncracy in his conduct that rudely 
expelled Sabbath-day thoughts. At intervals of 
five and ten minutes, he would start up in a rage at 
his crew, bringing forth a volley of oaths and abuse 
that frightened me, but that had not the slightest 
effect on them. He would then sit down to his 

c 2 



20 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST 



Bible again, and continue his pious exercises. I did 
not then understand the anomaly — but afterwards, 
by residence in the country, having got initiated 
into the mysteries of the Indian social system, I 
could then unwind it. I may now explain a little. 
Europeans in the East have to speak two languages, 
— their own to their countrymen, the native language 
to their servants. When they speak to the former 
they are accustomed to use the polished tone that 
obtains in good society, when they speak to the 
latter, it is for the purposes of commanding a weak 
and lethargic race — the general tone is conse- 
quently foul, overbearing, and depraved. So much 
does custom become second nature, that I have 
known ladies to indulge in the practice without 
themselves appearing to be aware how ill it sounded 
from such lips. 

On this my first entry into Anglo-Indian society, 
I looked on the captain's movements with astonish- 
ment. To attempt to describe them would be pro- 
fanity. Suffice it to say that Bengalese words 
mixed up with English oaths flew out of his mouth 
with great volubility, but little of which I could 
then understand. I only noticed that when he 
applied the word soor (pig), to his native boatswain 
that functionary's self- complaisance would be hurt, 
on which he urged on his Lascars by the ropes-end, 
using at the same time words even more atrocious 
than those of his white master. Here was one 
European amongst thirty natives doing what would 



THE MALACCA CAPTAIN. 



21 



have created a mutiny in an English ship before 
five minutes were over ; but things settled down to 
their usual listless and soothing routine, and the 
captain went back to his Bible. It required but 
little observation to see that the natives were sunk 
into the lowest state of degradation, and that their 
commander s moral perceptions had been considerably 
blunted. The relations between himself and his 
crew were fixed and settled ; both were habituated to 
the system, and the crew would not work under any 
other — at least so thought our captain. 

Our fare on board was very simple. Rice, fowls, 
and water, — succeeded by water, fowls, and rice, so 
that before the voyage was ended at Penang, I was 

taken seriously ill. The fare of the C was 

generous — beef, mutton, potatoes, biscuit, porter, 
ale, and wine partaken of with moderation — and 
was no bad diet to maintain a growing system. The 
sudden transition to rice and pure water, however 
much approved of by teetotallers, did not appear to 
agree with my constitution. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MALACCA. 

We arrived off Malacca on the second morning, and 
dropped anchor after breakfast. In approaching the 
roads, we passed through hundreds of fishing boats, 
manned by Malays and Indo-Portuguese. The 
fishermen held in their hands a bow strung with 
shells, which they rattled in the water at a great 
rate. The object of this of course was not to frighten 
away the fish, but to attract them. The philosophy 
of this I never had explained to me, further than 
that it has been a practice from time immemorial. 
Malacca is the Brighton of the Singapore Chinese. 
To this place they come to spend their holidays, — to 
eat the luscious fruit so abundant in the place, — to 
indulge in recreation and repose from the mercantile 
anxieties of the great emporium. Malacca has de- 
clined from its former greatness under the Malay, 
Portuguese, and Dutch rulers. Indeed, excepting in 
the remains of a great ruined fort, no vestige exists 
to tell what the place once was. 

Malay tradition would have it that under native 



MALACCA. 



23 



rajahs the town continued in a line of houses from 
Tanjong Kling to Tanjong Tohor. This could not 
have been so. An explanation of the tradition may 
be found in native fondness for hyperbole. T 1 le 
town, as it appeared from the roads, consisted of a 
row of dingy red-tiled houses, much overshadowed 
by cocoa-nut trees. In the centre rose a low grassy 
hill, on which the ruins of a Portuguese church 
stood. In the interior were ranges of low wooded 
hills, over which again towered out Gunong Ledang 
and the mountains of Rumbowe. Gunong Ledang 
is a tall peaked mountain, and is known to Euro- 
peans as Mount Ophir. 

We landed at an attap shed, and I proceeded 
with my introductions to a gentleman residing in 
the settlement. He was an " East Indian," or 
" country-born " gentleman, which terms are pre- 
ferred to that of " half-caste," a term held to be 
opprobrious in this part of the world. My friend 
having been educated in Europe, in polite circles, 
received me in a generous, warm-hearted, and 
polished manner, which commanded my profound 
respect and gratitude. 

My friend carried me out to his country seat, two 
or three miles from town. He drove a hooded gig, 
drawn by one of the smartest and handsomest little 
ponies I had ever seen. The breed is Sumatra, 
and is most valuable to the residents of the straits. 
The first part of the drive was through the musty, 
close, and odorous China-town ; but, that passed, we 



24 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



entered into avenues of tall areea and cocoa-nut 
trees ; thence we skirted the open plain, covered 
with rice plots. Now we entered orange, duku, 
langsat, and durian groves. Then we passed through 
rice fields ; at length we rise and wind round a 
grassy knoll, on whose top was set the capacious 
cool and snug bungalow of my friend. 

Lunch is spread in the verandah, open to the 
glorious sea breeze ; the prospect is charming, com- 
manding as it does the expanse of rice fields, fruit, 
and palm groves. Beyond these are the straits of 
Malacca, blue and joyful with gentle zephyrs. 
Here is a charming locality and delightful climate, 
calm, dreamy, and soothing. But inexorable time 
speeds. I am introduced to the lady of the house, 
and we sit down to the table. 

Grilled fowl, ham, and sweet potatoes, wine and 
pale ale, are first discussed. Then the course is 
removed, and cheese succeeds. At length the cream 
of the banquet is placed on the table. This is the 
fruit — pumaloes, oranges, plantains, and dukus. 
The pumaloes and plantains I thought delicious, 
the duku fascinating, but my friend said that he 
had reserved the best for the last. He informed me 
that Malacca was famed in the east for its fruits, 
which were to be had in high perfection and great 
variety. He counted over to me no iess than forty- 
nine species of plantain ; " but here," he said, " is 
the king of fruits. There is no fruit in the world 
that can compete with this. Our people take 



MALACCA. 



25 



voyages of hundreds of miles to partake of it. 
The kings of Burmah have fast-sailing packets to 
carry it 500 miles that they may taste the valued 
luxury. Ay ! here it is/' continued my host ; 
" the boy brings it." I look and see a rough- 
looking substance full of yellow yokes or seeds 
borne forward to the table. But what is this odour ? 
I looked about me furtively, and my friend smiled. 
I took a momentary glance at the lady, and she 
laughed outright. The fruit is placed on the table. 
Shades of Cloacina ! what is this ? I give a piteous 
glance to my host : he laughs immoderately. I 
look at the contents of the fruit dish, and learn that 
the atrociously foetid odours come from it. My 
host resumes his equanimity, and sees it is no use to 
ask me to partake. I would have held my nose did 
good breeding allow it, but I resigned myself to my 
fate, and looked on. My host proceeded to open 
up the disgusting entrails of the horrid-looking 
vegetable, and they send forth an odour of rotten 
eggs stirred up with decayed onions. He hands 
some of the yokes to his lady, and some to his 
children, and then helps himself largely. Their 
attacks are vigorous, their relish is astonishing. I 
must admit that, for some little time, my new 
friends sank in my estimation. I could not have 
imagined such a thing of them. I had heard of 
Esquimaux eating blubber, and Eussians eating 
tallow ; but that my polished friends should eat such 
an abomination as this, was beyond my conception. 



26 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



The durian, however, is finished in due course, 
and its odours evaporate. My self-possession re- 
vives, and my host explains the enigma. He said, 
" I am not astonished at your dislike to the fruit. 
Few Europeans will partake of it at first ; but, wait 
a bit, when you come back from Penang to see me 
again, I will have a very nice one ready for you. I 
know that you will then not only like them, but 
you will be excessively fond of them." He told the 
truth. Two years afterwards I learnt to perceive 
the piquant flavour, the unsurpassed delicacy, the 
fragrant richness of the durian. I have tasted the 
fruits, since then, of many parts of the world. Years 
have gone by, and I still hold that all fruits are 
tame and tasteless when placed beside the favourite 
Malayan king of fruits. 

I parted with my kind host in the evening, and 
was on board again before dark. A noticeable 
incident on the way was a drunken European, who 
was being carried and carefully tended by half-a- 
dozen black half-naked natives of the Coromandel 
coast. It appeared that he was their navigator, so 
they were carrying him to their vessel, where he 
would come round again before sailing, as on board 
he could get no spirits. 



CHAPTEE VII. 



PULO PINANG. 

Penan g has been the subject of my thoughts for 
years. The interest of a kind and warm-hearted 
friend, had opened an avenue to this El Dorado. 
The long: and oft-repeated discourses of an elder 
relative, who had realized a fortune here, had served 
to clothe the spot with golden prospects. His 
stirring narrations of adventures originated at 
Penang amongst the Malays of Sumatra, Borneo, 
and Johore, which were crowned with ultimate 
success, surrounded it with an atmosphere of ad- 
venturous romance well calculated to lure the young 
adventurer. The coloured engravings of Captain 
Smith, of the Bengal Engineers, which hung round 
the dining-room of my respected relative, furnished 
materials for a panorama exquisite in beauty, rich in 
scenery, comprising as they did gorgeous mansions, 
stately woodlands, wide-spreading plains, meander- 
ing rivers, gushing cascades, land-locked and snug 
harbours. The tout ensemble of these pictures led one 
to imagine that if there were an etysium on earth, 



28 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



it was this. Such were the bases of my preconceived 
opinions of Penang, and the morning of the 7th of 
August, 183 — , found us nearing it. 

On finishing breakfast, our Malacca captain looked 
out and pointed to land rising in the horizon, some- 
what in the shape of a hog's back : he said, that is 
Penang. Favoured with the strong gales of the 
south-west monsoon, we rapidly approached it. At 
length we found ourselves running close under the 
steep shores of Batu Mau. 

Now each place as it opens out is named by the 
skipper. Were my anticipations realized? I con- 
fess not. Deep disappointment laid its heavy load 
on my spirits. The highlands loomed heavy and 
shapeless ; their primeval forests have been de- 
stroyed, and are giving place to mangy patches of 
scrub and bare stones. The shores were muddy, 
and fringed with scrubby mangroves. On the 
Malayan side a few round ugly hills rose out of the 
low swampy dismal shore line. But, as we run up 
the channel, George Town rises — a long line of 
red tiles, with a solitary cocoa-nut tree sticking up 
here and there. Numerous boats came off filled 
with bald-pated, fat, round Chinamen, squabbling, 
screeching, and bellowing, in uncouth, parrot-like 
voices. On we go, and anchor close to a pillared 
jetty, and a fort shaded by umbrageous trees. 

I land at the jetty, and am beleaguered by scram- 
bling naked natives, every one wishing to claim me 
as his own. I am asked my name. " Whaf s name, 



PULO PINANGr. 



29 



sar ? What's name, sar ? Where you come from ? 
Wliere you come from ? Where want to go ? Me take 
you, sar I Me very good man, sar J" I lay about me 
with my silk umbrella, and clearing a lane, jump 
into a hearse-like conveyance, drawn by a pony. I 
give the name of my destination, and off we drive, 
I know not where, nor by whom guided ; nor do I 
understand a single syllable that my Jehu utters. 
Darkness is approaching : we pass along long lines 
of low, red- tiled, dirty buildings, tenanted by Chinese 
and natives of Hindostan. The lines seem in- 
terminable. At length we roll over a high wooden 
bridge, crossing a foetid, sluggish, salt water creek. 
On we go, through low mangrove marshes ; now we 
enter dark dismal plantations of tall cocoa-nut trees, 
and anon we emerge a little. The stars peep out ; 
we pass through musty native villages, built with 
spars and long leaves, tenanted by brown, turbaned, 
bald-pated natives. On we roll, and pass through 
low jungle, perchance the haunt of the Malay penia- 
mum or robber. At length we came on cultivation 
again. My Jehu is true to his trust. We enter a 
long avenue bordered by round handsome little trees. 
The portals are discerned through a curved avenue 
of arsenna trees, and anon the carriage drives under 
an ample porte-cochere. It stops, and the little pony 
with its driver stand panting, perspiring, and breath- 
less. 

The mansion of my friend is palatial ; tall white 
pillars, spacious flights of steps, broad airy verandahs, 



30 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



open entrance hall. The liveried servants are 
grouped about, clothed in white robes, gold-laced 
turbans, and bright sashes. Numerous lamps cast 
their light on the various elegant objects, and display 
the pompous grandeur, the lordly array of the 
Indian household. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE DINNEE PAETY. 

Penan G, though not inviting in appearance from 
without, soon improved on better acquaintance. The 
European residents were few in number, but they 
were hospitable, social, kind, and agreeable. Tra- 
vellers and passengers are sure to experience all the 
attention that warm hearts and open doors can sup- 
ply. The entertainments, public and private, were 
frequent, brilliant, and lavish. The object of this 
chapter will be to describe a private entertainment, 
which will serve as a type of many of which I had 
the honour to partake. 

The house belongs to a merchant and planter. It 
is situated within the precincts of George Town. It 
is a pillared and verandahed mansion, with ground 
and upper floor. Green Venetians close in the upper 
rooms, which admit or close out the shifting breezes, 
at pleasure. A large red-tiled roof of rigidly plain 
features covers the whole, Various fruit trees are 
planted in the enclosure or compound, clean gravel 
roads lead up to the portico, under which the visitor 



32 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



arrives. The front of the house commands a view 
of the esplanade, the fort, and the harbour. The 
arsenna trees in the fort were a beautiful feature ; 
but, like many old friends, perchance have now dis- 
appeared. 

But to proceed, the first visitor arrives at seven 
p.m. exactly. He drives up in his buggy drawn by 
a smart piebalded Acheen pony. His servant, or as 
he calls him his boy, sits beside him, and his groom 
or syce runs by the side. He is dressed in snow- 
white trousers and waistcoat. His coat is black, a 
forage cap, with white cover, is on his head, and his 
shoes are of canvas, pipeclayed, excepting at the 
extreme points of the toes, where they are of black 
japanned leather. He steps down, and is conducted 
by the host up-stairs to a verandah brilliantly lighted 
for the occasion. Here he is introduced to the 
hostess sitting in state. Compliments are passed, 
and mine host asks him if he has brought his white 
jacket. If so, he retires, and dons the easy, cool, 
upper dress of India. Other visitors arrive, and the 
same process is gone through. Such gentlemen as 
have brought their ladies, hand them over to 
the obliging care of the hostess and her maid ser- 
vants or ayahs. Sherry and bitters stand on a side 
table for the gentlemen to partake of, and whet 
their torpid appetites. All having arrived, the first 
difficulties of the host commence. The ladies and 
gentlemen are apportioned, and their rights of pre- 
cedence weighed with the strictest regard to rule, not 



THE DINNER PARTY. 



33 



always giving entire satisfaction to the ladies. The 
party proceeds down stairs and enters the dining 
hall, where the family silver is spread in its full 
extent and variety. The visitors now advance 
solemnly to their respective positions. The ladies 
seat themselves, and the gentlemen follow. Exqui- 
sitely white napkins with fancy bread are laid before 
each chair. If a clergyman be present, in deference 
to him, a grace is asked for. Different soups in 
silver tureens, occupy the ends and middle of the 
table — mock turtle and mulligatawny being the 
favourites. The native servants, in their gaudy 
liveries, advance and stand with folded arms behind 
their masters and mistresses. Now the soups are 
served, and the clattering of spoons commences ; the 
ice is broken, and the joke, laugh, and repartee go 
round. 

Soups over, mine host asks his leading lady guest 
to take wine ; this example is followed by all the other 
gentlemen. Meantime the soup has been cleared 
off, and the next course (fish) takes its place. Now 
if any one wishes to partake of good fish, Penang is 
the place. The sole and the snangan of Penang 
exceed in delicacy of flavour the fish of all other 
parts. Here again the brisk clatter of forks proves 
the goodness of the entertainment. 

The fish is cleared off, and now come joints of 
sweet Bengal mutton, Chinese capons, Keddah fowls 
and Sangora ducks, Yorkshire hams, Java pota- 
toes, and Malay ubis. The conversation waxes 

ft 



34 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



louder, and the ladies unbend from their rigidity. 
This course comes to an end and a general round of 
drinking healths takes place. Meanwhile the table 
is cleared, and the next course, which is a short one 
of rice and curry, succeeds ; this is accompanied with 
sambals of pungent taste, Bombay ducks, and Cam- 
par roes, salted turtle eggs, and omelettes. 

The introduced neighbours condescend to take 
wine with each other ; meanwhile the table is cleared 
and the dessert succeeds, — maccaroni puddings, 
shapes, and custards. Now champagne is more 
freely poured forth, and a huge cheese is placed on 
the table. This is discussed with libations of pale 
ale. A rosy pink for the first time blushes in the 
cheeks of the climate worn and pale ladies — a bril- 
liant moment of their former selves. The gentle- 
men discuss the topics of the day. These topics 
are not often political, but generally passing events, 
such as the last government ball, the last case of 
piracy, or the progress of the Keddah war now 
raging. Tuanku Mahomed Saad is a hero in their 
eyes, though a ruffianly pirate in the eyes of the 
Company's officials. At last the table is cleared of 
its cloth, and numerous fruits, with wine, are placed 
on the polished red wood. The inimitable durian is 
excluded, as also the coarser jack and chumpada ; but 
the mangosteen, mango, pumaloe, langsat, rose 
apple, popya, and plantain find a place. The excel- 
lencies of each draw abundant attention, surprising 
the stranger with their variety of qualities — peculia- 



THE DINNER PARTY. 



35 



rities of flavour enchanting to the most fastidious 
taste. 

It is now 9 p.m. and the ladies retire to the 
drawing-room on the upper floor. The gentlemen 
sit a while, probably a quarter to half an hour, and 
then follow. The drawing-room is capacious, high, 
and airy. Its walls and ceiling are whitewashed ; 
its floor is covered with Bengal mats. To the Eng- 
lish taste, the furniture is plain. Glass shaded 
lamps are arranged round the walls. The effect of 
this is pleasing and brilliant. The white dresses 
and jewellery of the ladies are now set off to the best 
advantage. 

Coffee and tea are served, and form an antidote to 
the stronger beverages previously indulged in. The 
ladies now receive that expected attention from the 
more gallant portion of the gentlemen visitors. 
The piano is opened, and a duet is played. The 
card players retire to a snug cool end of the veran- 
dah, where also brandy and water may be had ad 
libitum. The young ladies take their turn at the 
piano, and it may be the room is cleared for 
dancing. The China scarf over that young officer's 
shoulder shows where his heart has gone to. A 
swarm of butterflies flicker round that young 
English rose just arrived — she is enraptured, and 
pities her pale sisters — poor things ! The hostess is 
all smiles and complacency, indulgently anxious 
about the comforts and amusements of her visitors, 
and our host seeks out with generous affability such 

d 2 



36 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



young and unknown strangers as have had entree to 
the entertainment. 

"Xis 11 ; now the matrons show symptoms of 
moving. The party is broken up, and long strings 
of conveyances, with their spangling lamps, are soon 
moving homewards along the level street. Here we 
may close also. 



CHAPTEE IX. 



THE CHUECH. 

If the English be the true church, it was evident 
the East India Company did not think so. True, 
the Company paid their chaplains munificently ; but 
it was not to teach much, but to preach little. 
True, handsome churches were erected at the princi- 
pal stations ; but it was not for religion's sake ; 
some abstruse point of policy, beyond the compre- 
hension of ordinary minds, no doubt was the moving 
cause. It is evident their support was not owing to 
Indian requirements, as Europeans in those days 
seldom attended church, and the natives were 
Mahomedans or pagans. 

To say it was the patronage afforded to the poli- 
tical bench of bishops in Parliament assembled, 
would be an unamiable suggestion. We will, there- 
fore, not guess at this. Certain it is that it could 
not be for the sake of their native subjects, as pro- 
selytism was forbidden under the heaviest pains and 
penaltieSc The extension of the benign influence of 
Christian doctrines and practice thus evidently 



38 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



formed none of the moving causes of the Company's 
liberal support of the Church of England. 

Penan g church is a little gem in the wilderness 
of unbelief and superstition. Its Doric portico, with 
coupled columns, standing boldly out before a chaste 
and modestly ornamented facade, speaks to the eye 
of the artist ; its small but elegant tower and spire, 
shooting up amongst the casuarina and ar senna 
groves, recall to memory the common, but grateful 
feature of an English landscape. Before the church, 
stands a handsome monument to the memory of 
Captain William Light, the founder of the settle- 
ment, constructed at the expense of one of the mer- 
chant princes of the island. 

Let us enter the church at Sunday-morning ser- 
vice. The interior is in the purest taste fitted for 
the climate. The pews are not boxed in, but an 
open railing closes round each. The smallest breath 
of air can flow through the nave. It is fitted up 
with the most scrupulous care for the comfort of 
the congregation. Two dark pagans draw the long 
punkahs over the heads of the assembled worship- 
pers, and another is seen busily pumping air into 
the organ up in the gallery. Our first shock is 
experienced. 

Let us scan the congregation. The church is 
seated for 300 or 400. There are twenty wor- 
shippers. Five young ladies sit in one pew, — yellow, 
meagre, emaciated. One fine old veteran sits in 
another pew ; and an honest black woman, his wife, 



THE CHUKCH. 39 

clothed in muslins, sits in the pew behind him. A 
stout, bald-headed gentleman sits in another pew, 
who fans himself continuously with a China fan. A 
long, cadaverous-looking gentleman occupies another 
pew, but he stretches his long legs through the 
railing upon the next seat in front of him. One 
handsome brunette, with a prematurely withered 
mother, occupies another pew. These, and a few 
men from the garrison, compose the congregation. 

But now the organ peals forth its soul-inspiring 
strains, and the clergyman and his clerk enter. 
They both differ greatly from the home genus. 
The responses are read hy the clerk with a flippant 
air, nor do the congregation join in any way what- 
ever. His insincere enunciation of earnest suppli- 
cations have no seconders. All is silent as the 
sepulchre. The psalms are given out ; our clerk 
does not condescend to sing, nor do the congrega- 
tion. The poor pagan in the gallery causes the 
only sounds that are sent up to the All-powerful, the 
All-beneficent, — to what end ? The sermon is short, 
dull, and unpractical. It indulges only in the com- 
monest platitudes, sleepy and unattractive. This 
over, no charity is asked ; but the pagan in the 
gallery causes the organ to send up the only sounds 
worthy to be listened to on that day. The syces 
bring our conveyances underneath the portico, and 
we disperse. 

And does this curate of souls visit his people ? — 
No ! What does he do ? — He plants nutmegs. 



40 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



What is his stipend? — 1200£. per annum. Why 
does he not go amongst his people? — Simply be- 
cause he is not wanted. The moral influence of the 
gentle English woman had not made itself felt here. 
Is he to blame ? — Not entirely ; he is the child of 
circumstances, and his healthy English nature has 
altered accordingly. But what a glorious field for 
a really earnest Christian minister I — ten thousand 
souls to be saved ! The settlement is steeped in 
the darkness of paganism. True, — but the field is 
not his. His earthly masters forbid him to be an 
apostle to the heathen, and his heavenly Master s com- 
mands are neglected I He is the burra padre, or 
great man's priest ; not the cooly padre, or poor 
man's minister. He is here because he is well paid 
for it ; and his only thoughts are how to make 
money and get out of the place , 



CHAPTER X. 

MECCA WEE. 

Time passes swiftly ; and ere long I have learnt the 
native languages. My duties take me amongst the 
natives, and I have a new wide world opened to 
view. Amongst the earliest of the native gentle- 
men I met, was Meccawee, an Arab priest, a native 
of Mecca — for he had three marks on his cheek, the 
stamp of his holy native city. Meccawee was a 
Mahomedan, a man of influence with the Malay 
population, and, as such, if not courted, was taken 
notice of and patronized by the leading European 
residents, official and non-official. I had frequent 
intercourse with Meccawee at the hospitable house 
of a friend, where he was not only made welcome, 
but where he came and went as the most intimate 
of friends. Meccawee being a Mahomedan, would 
not sit at table with his Christian friends ; but on 
other scores he had no compunctions of religion or 
• prejudice. He drank his sherbet, and munched 
his biscuits, on the understanding that there were 
no spirits in the former, nor hog's-lard in the latter. 



42 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Intimately acquainted with the various social and 
political movements of the natives, his conversation 
was interesting and entertaining. At this time the 
war of Tuanku Mahomed Saad was going on, on 
the opposite shores, against the Siamese ; and this 
was a fertile subject of discussion between him and 
his friends. He would fulminate anathemas against 
the pigs of idolaters who were now, with the assist- 
ance of a British frigate, crushing the spirit of in- 
dependence that had long lived in Keddah ; and he 
was thoroughly sympathised with by the European 
merchants and planters, who, with the true instincts 
of John Bull, sided with the oppressed, whether 
right or wrong. 

In these discussions, I remember a well-meaning 
but ill-advised friend, expatiating to the surround- 
ing and puzzled Malays on the glories of liberty, 
equality, and fraternity. He urged them to resist 
the oppressor to the last, and, holding a billiard-cue 
in his hand, he would show them, to their infinite 
delight, how he would run-a-muck amongst the 
Rajah of Ligor's terrified and flying soldiers. He 
forgot at the same time the parallel between the 
English and Siamese governments. But this was 
of little consequence. His auditors' views had not 
a large range, nor were they imbued with the feel- 
ings of our revolutionary friend ; they were pro- 
foundly ignorant of all such doctrines, contenting 
themselves with the fact that there were rajahs 
(princes), and ryots (people), and that there was 



MECCA WEE. 



43 



no use of rajahs without ryots, or ryots without 
rajahs. 

In these discussions our friend Meccawee would 
give place to our revolutionary friend, sit in his 
wicker chair, smoke his host's cheroots and sip his 
lemonade with an air of supreme satisfaction. He 
was contented with the good things of Fulo Fee- 
nang as he pronounced it ; his interest in Keddah 
independence was not sufficiently strong to induce 
him to undertake the hardships of a campaign. 
Under the Altai mountains with their rough and 
bracing climate, Meccawee might have been a fana 
tical, restless, and enterprising follower of Ali — in 
the dreamy airs of the Straits, he was easy and list- 
less. But he would wake up, at times ; and, taking 
a cue in his hands, he would challenge his intrepid 
white friend to a game at billiards — here he was 
hard to beat. 

Meccawee dressed in flowing robes, red sandals, 
and gold- threaded turban of enormous dimensions. 
Of a leather-coloured countenance, and thin in body, 
he was wiry as became the child of Arabia. His 
house was situated on a snug sandy beach, covered 
with cocoa-nut trees, which gave a grateful shade 
during the day. But to his house he did not invite 
his most intimate friends. They were excluded 
with such jealousy as is only known to the Mussul- 
man. In front of his house was a pondoh or shed 
on posts. To this place we were escorted when 
paying our respects. Coffee and cheroots were soon 



44 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



provided by his dark Abyssinian attendant, and here 
we would enjoy the cool sea breezes for hours together. 

Meccawee's great dread was of pirates, who at 
this time frequently pounced on the inhabitants of 
the sea shores, and carried them off to slavery into 
other Malay states. One time, near the middle of 
the night, we made an inroad upon Meccawee's 
hospitality, and were received by him in a great 
state of fright. He was swinging his long sword 
round his head in a manner which proved that it 
would have been difficult to have carried him off. 

But pirates may not have been the only cause of 
trepidation. Meccawee was an Arab, and a hand- 
some man. He was popular amongst the Malay 
ladies, and his moral code gave him considerable 
latitude. It was pretty freely hinted that he was 
not contented with the limits of his own harem. 
True it is, in quarrels, divorces, exorcisms of evil 
spirits, Meccawee's influence was had recourse to, 
and here his power and sway were unlimited. The 
neglected husbands, in their own impure imagina- 
tions, pictured their faults as appertaining also to 
Meccawee, and this no doubt gave rise to the libel. 
At least let us say so. 

Such was an Arab disciple of the prophet Ma- 
homed amongst the Malays. And why should his 
religion have succeeded, with Christianity as its 
compeer and opponent ? Compare the portraits, 
and one or two causes, amongst many, may be 
guessed at. The Christian priest, unapproachable — 



MECCAWEE. 



45 



secluded — above the people ; the Mahomedan priest 
accessible — mixing with, and on a level with the 
people. Both possessed of superior energy — purer 
dogmas — foundations to a firm faith — surely the one 
who wedded his sympathies to those of the people, 
even though he partook of their faults, sins, and 
weaknesses, would gain the day ! This is undoubt- 
edly one of the causes of the success of Mahomed- 
anism over Christianity in the Far East ; but I may, 
when speaking of missionaries, enter into the sub- 
ject more at length. 



CHAPTER XL 

AN EXCUKSIOK 

Though the island of Penang appeared to be 
nothing but hills, it was found to possess ample 
plains and valleys. The plain of Peniagre, on 
which George Town and its suburbs stand, is a dead 
level for several miles ; and here the densest portion 
of the population is found. Rich plantations of 
cocoa nut and betel nut, alternate with paddy and 
sugar-cane fields. This was the prevailing feature, 
but in the midst, esplanades, open lawns, and nut- 
meg gardens were laid out here and there. The 
roads were numerous, and at that time they were 
in excellent order ; indeed so smooth and level were 
they, that it was quite a pleasure to ride or drive 
along them. In many places the tall palm-trees 
hung over the roads, and afforded grateful shelter 
from the noonday sun. Another plain stretches 
out on the western shores of the island, called Bally 
Pulo. This plain was even at that time pretty 
well cultivated, but no doubt much progress has 
been made since then. Again a fine fertile plain 



AN EXCURSION 



47 



stretched along the south-eastern shores of the island 
from Soongei Nibong to By an Lepas. The most 
extensive paddy fields are here found, and surround- 
ing the same are groves of palms and fruit-trees 
shading the numerous villages of the natives. 

It was on this plain that a surveyor was engaged 
in his exposed and toilsome occupation ; and as a 
relief to monotony he had invited several of his 
military, merchant, and planting friends to a picnic. 
An early start was made before daybreak, and a 
smart ride brought us to the survey camp before 
8 a.m. We found our friend camped under a 
dense cocoa-nut grove, near the Malay village. He 
was engaged " on hospitable thoughts intent," ur- 
ging his Bengalee cook to kill some fowls to be 
grilled, stewed, and devilled for his expected 
visitors. 

We were soon seated round his improvised table, 
placed beneath his snug but sufficiently capacious 
tent ; and mountains of rice curries and other cun- 
ning devices, had sore havoc made upon them by 
appetites whetted by the long ride and morning air. 
Having despatched breakfast, we mounted our little 
hardy Sumatra ponies ; and, wending our way 
through paddy fields and cocoa-nut groves, we made 
for the beach. It was harvest time, and the 
plains waved with golden corn ; for rice has a straw 
and head not very unlike those of the oat. The 
face of the country was rich in the extreme. The 
hazy warm mist of the torrid zone hung over the 



48 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



landscape, tinting the hills and forest with gorgeous 
purple. The sea breeze wafted gently through the 
trees, and the busy hum of life resounded from the 
villages and harvest fields. Here a band of reapers, 
— not with the sickle, but with the rungum — 
plucked, or rather cut off, the heads of corn, and 
deposited them in baskets. This slow and laborious 
process was giving ample employment to young and 
old, male and female. But how different was the 
aspect of these same reapers. No red cheeks and 
pearly laughing teeth — no sturdy arms plying away 
at full speed. The reapers were dusky, yellow and 
brown, in complexion, and their teeth were jet 
black. They wore basket-shaped hats, and worked 
with an apathy, listlessness, and contentment which 
was disgusting to me an Anglo-Saxon. We won- 
dered when their task would come to an end. 

The peculiar odour of the paddy field, struck me 
for the first time. I cannot describe it, yet it has a 
peculiarity of its own as little to be forgotten as the 
smell of fresh mown hay. Now was also the season 
for flying paper kites — a pastime in which bqth old 
and young engage — in fact an old Malay is a very 
child in this respect. Hundreds of kites — of 
various forms, from the serpent to the turtle — 
were sporting in the air. Many of these kites had 
instruments attached to them that hummed a loud 
tone when acted upon by the air. The din of these 
added no little to the gaiety and excitement of the 
scene. But amongst the most notable objects were 



AN EXCURSION". 



49 



the clumps of bamboo, — tall, graceful, and umbra- 
geous. From the outer inclining branches, hung, in 
wonderful abundance, large pear-shaped pendicles, 
which proved on examination to be birds' nests. 
These were found to be constructed of grass, in a 
most scientific manner, by intertwining ; and at the 
very bottom was found the entrance by which the 
interior is reached. The natives informed us that 
the object of the birds in selecting the very ends of 
the outermost branches was to keep their young 
ones safe from the snakes, which were not only very 
abundant, but very voracious. These numerous 
pendant nests, hanging as they did to the tiniest 
of the branches, suggested a calm atmosphere and 
universal repose. 

As we rode through the villages, the boys ran from 
us calling out " The white man " — " the white man," 
(orang putih — orang putih,) and the young girls 
shrunk with timidity behind the nearest shelter ; 
which informed us that nature here also had clothed 
the gentler sex in the garments of modesty, thus 
affording her the most potent protection. 

On we rode, till we came to a large cocoa-nut 
plantation, and soon afterwards we reached the 
beach. Here the cocoa-nut was in its prime ; its 
feather-like leaves wooed the sea-breeze, and drank 
in the saline particles carried through the air. 
The tops were loaded with fruit, and the hot ride 
made us long for a refreshing drink. This is well 
supplied by the cocoa-nut. One of our sycees 

E 



50 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



knowing our wants, sprang to a tree, and, holding 
by and stepping on the notches cut in the stem of 
the tree, he soon got to the top, and sent down an 
abundance of nuts from an elevation of eighty feet 
or more. We drank to our hearts' content ; and 
after enjoying the prospect of the open sea, with its 
blue and sparkling waters, we returned to the 
camp. 

It was now evening, and a smoking dinner, con- 
sisting of such materials as could be bought in the 
village, was spread on the table. The food was 
plain and abundant, and ample justice was done 
to it. Our party consisted of a planter, a mer- 
chant, a captain of the Madras Native Infantry, 
a lieutenant ditto, an ensign ditto, and myself. 
We were all very much fagged by the day's ex- 
cursion excepting the planter, who was indomitable. 
Our dinner was consequently eaten with long faces 
and in silence. The lieutenant was a harum-scarum 
sort of a fellow. His brother had been pinked in 
Paris, he himself had picked quarrels with several 
of his friends, but none would fight. The last case 
was with a merchant to whom he owed a heavy 
bill for drinkables. This merchant was known 
to have ostentatiously — if not rather unbecom- 
ingly — boasted of having drawn a trigger on an 
antagonist. This boast was a godsend to the lieu- 
tenant, as he had now a man that would fight. 
He thought he would " kill two birds with one 
stone," ridding himself of the merchant and his 



AN EXCURSION. 



51 



debts at the same time. He soon picked a quarrel 
with the merchant at a dinner, which ended in his 
throwing a decanter full of wine at the merchant's 
head, and " calling him out " next morning. Here 
was a practical test that the merchant had not 
counted on. He did not relish his position. His 
merchant friends held consultation, and saved their 
brother by collectively taking the onus of refusing 
a meeting on themselves. After this, the merchant 
was dogged and insulted by the lieutenant on every 
opportunity. On one occasion, while the military 
band was performing, the merchant was in the act 
of speaking to a lady in one of the carriages. This 
being perceived by the gallant lieutenant, he at 

once walked up and said, " Pray, Mrs. , do 

not pollute your pretty lips by speaking to such a 
cowardly fellow as this." The society of that day 
bore with the lieutenant's eccentricities, — nay, sup- 
ported and applauded him. The end of the " good 
old times " had then not yet come. 

The lieutenant was a wild fellow, a merry com- 
panion, a deep drinker. He had been at death's 
door several times, from inflammation of the liver. 
At this time he was convalescent. Wearied and 
exhausted, he tasted nothing but the champagne, 
which revived him. The ensign was the next 
notable character. A man of Herculean powers, 
but affected with king's evil and dysentery. His 
legs were a mass of ulcers ; yet did the strong 
young man fight against the afflictions of nature, — 

e 2 



52 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



he eat, drank, and made merry. Till dinner was 
over, the pangs of his complaint dulled his temper, 
and he sat silent. The others were grave by ex- 
ample, and we sat, and ate, and said nothing. I 
began to think Indian society a dull affair, but I 
was uninitiated— strange to the climate and the 
company. 

The surveyor was a little volatile fellow, — merry 
as a cricket in company, dull and dejected when 
solitary. Passionately fond of music, he beguiled 
the long solitary hours of the lonely surveyor's 
camp with his inimitable violin. He could draw 
such strains from it as to alternately cause sorrow, 
mirth, or absolute delight. When dinner was over, 
the violin was called for on all sides. The un- 
stinted champagne had also now begun to dilate the 
heart and banish care. 

H struck up first, in a melancholy, subdued 

tone, soothing to the present humour of the com- 
pany, softly sympathizing in their dejection. The 
ensign groaned audibly, and the lieutenant pros- 
trated himself backwards. The planter shed tears. 
The very cocoa-nut trees bent their tall gaunt 
stems forward and hung their sombre heads as if 

bewailing in company. H knew his powers, 

and he went on gently, — changing so gradually 
that it was scarcely perceptible. He ran through a 
number of strains till at length his airs had become 
lively. Here a slight movement in the company 
betokened returning animation. H continued 



AN EXCURSION. 



53 



drawing his bow, gradually quickening its speed, 
till at length he ran over the liveliest tunes with all 
the energy and vivacity of which he was capable. 
The ensign stood up on his legs, and the next 
thing he did was to dance a hornpipe. The lieu- 
tenant roared an accompaniment. Some beat time 
with their fists on the table, others stamped with 
their feet. All care was soon forgotten, and the 
voice of merriment and laughter resounded through 
the palm groves. The late lugubrious company 
became a wonder to the villagers, a source of terror 
to the owls, bats, and monkeys. The love song 
succeeded the bacchanalian ditty. The wine glasses 
were cast aside, and the tumblers flowed with spark- 
ling champagne. 

The merchant sang, — 

" For while good humour is afloat, 
E'er to part would be a sin ; 
Drink and fill another toast, 
Drink and fill the bowl again." 

Trials of strength, and wrestling matches by 
torchlight, succeeded the songs. The planter 
pressed down the ensign's arm on the table as he 
would an infant's. Foiled here, the lieutenant, 
for the honour of the cloth, would wrestle with the 
victorious planter. The grass is cleared, and they 
fall-to. The planter throws the lieutenant full 
length on the sward, with a dash sufficient to un- 
hinge his joints. The fighting lieutenant rises with 
pain, — we watch him. He proves true game ; not 



45 



LIFE IN THE FAE EAST. 



the slightest spark of a Malay or Spaniard was in 
his nature. He was a true John Bull, with all his 
faults. He rose with difficulty, and with the most 
perfect good humour drank success to his over- 
thrower. Here was a fine young fellow thrown 
away on the easy-going Madras army. The Mulls 
had had little fighting for many years. The offi- 
cers had merely to save and not commit themselves, 
and they returned home with their pockets full of 
rupees, and their names, though not their actions, 
full of military honours. The proper arena for 
our lieutenant would have been in the plains of 
Affghanistan or before Grhizni. In such a sphere 
he would have shone conspicuously, — in leading a 
forlorn hope, or in any task to which his duty 
called him. Here, his overflowing energies threw 
him into mischief, excess, and devilment. Torpi- 
tude fostered the inferior qualities of his nature, 
and probably an early and obscure grave was his 
fate. I turned to the Madras almanac some years 
afterwards, but his name was not amongst the list 

of officers. Such is life. As for our host H— , 

he found a sudden fate and an early grave in India. 
He was long remembered by his associates in Pe- 
nang as a most agreeable companion, — they were 
equally fascinated by his vivacity and good humour, 
to which his inimitable violin contributed not a 
little eclat. 

My narration may appear commonplace, but my 
object is not alone to describe the " goings on " of 



AN EXCURSION 



55 



some young men. Let us inquire as to their sur- 
roundings. They were in an obscure Malay vil- 
lage, whose houses were constructed of palm leaves, 
penetrable by every sound. The Malays are a 
quiet race, jealous, amatory, and revengeful. They 
as a class judged of Europeans generally from what 
they saw of common sailors streaming out of the 
frigates and merchant ships, to run into the ex- 
cesses of drunkenness and vice in the seaport 
towns. The Malay man never makes a noise but 
when something serious is abroad — an amok or a 
brawl, in which the kris is readily drawn, blood 
flows, and perhaps life is taken. Of the Europeans, 
in this respect, they judged as of themselves, — for 
the Malay princes in their progresses and enter- 
tainments supply their friends' beds with damsels 
from their villages, — and the revels of that night 
in their midst kept tbe village in a state of excite- 
ment and panic. The daughters clung to their 
mothers' bosoms, and the fathers grasped their 
weapons in sullenness. But they had misjudged 
the nature of the educated European ; with his moral 
training, his intellectual cultivation, and his power of 
self control. 

Early dawn found the surveyor's camp silent and 
deserted, and we were scampering through the cold, 
misty, yet reviving mangrove swamps of Sungei 
Chiang, on our way towards George Town. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

NATIVE MAEKIAGE CEREMONY. 

I accompanied two friends one evening to a Malay 
marriage, to which we had been invited. The 
marriage was to be celebrated at a village a con- 
siderable way out of George Town, so that it was 
dark before we arrived at the place. Stepping out 
of our palanquin, we entered a cluster of attap 
houses, standing, without much order, under shady 
groves of cocoa-nut trees. With the assistance of 
a native guide, we soon found the house. It was 
like other Malay houses, constructed of round posts 
and long leaves called attaps. The floor was about 
four to five feet from the ground, and underneath 
the area was open. We ascended to the floor by 
means of a wooden ladder. The floor was con- 
structed with nibong laths, bound down to the 
joists by means of split rattans. Over the floor 
were laid abundance of native mats, which were 
comfortable to sit upon, but we, by way of compli- 
ment, were provided with chairs. 

The Malay owner of the house, being a poor 



NATIVE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 57 

man, did not shake hands with us ; but, with a 
cheerful tabbeh, or Malay salute, ushered us into 
the room, where the preparations for the ceremony 
were completed. The apartment was small, pro- 
bably not over fourteen feet square ; and fifteen 
or twenty Malay relatives were assembled in it. 
In a back room were the female members of the 
family, with their friends. Those were observed to 
be peering through the trellis work. They were 
supposed to see, but not to be seen. 

As this was the first time that I had come so- 
cially in contact with the Malays, my observations 
were close, though my ignorance of the language 
prevented me from understanding much. I need 
not say my preconceived ideas were unfavourable to 
the race ; but the first sight was sufficient to allay 
disagreeable feelings. Our host was copper-coloured, 
dressed in garments not unlike those worn by the 
highlanders of Scotland, only the colours were more 
sombre than those of the tartan. He was somewhat 
wrinkled with age, and had neither whiskers nor 
beard. His eyes were mild and dark, and his teeth 
were filed down to the gums. His mouth was the 
worst feature, and he added to its ugliness by sticking 
a ball of tobacco between his teeth and upper lip. 
Yet his soft language, agreeable manners, and re- 
spectful bearing, ministered to his white friends' ease, 
if not somewhat to their vanity. Being a Mahome- 
dan, we were not introduced to his wife or family ; 
these were kept out of sight in the inner room. 



58 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



After we had sat a while, the bridegroom was 
carried in. He was a boy of thirteen years of age, 
handsomely dressed in a silken baju and sarong, 
with a bugis saputangan on his head. His nether 
man was clad in the Acheen seluar, ornamented with 
gold-worked thread. He was placed on a dais, soon 
after which his intended was carried in by the 
women, and placed beside him. She was a girl of 
eleven years of age, also handsomely dressed in loose 
and flowing silken sarongs and green-coloured baju. 
Her hair was drawn back, and secured with nume- 
rous gold pins ; but I must plead a limited know- 
ledge of the mysteries of the Malayan lady's ward- 
robe. 

The bride and bridegroom sat abashed and im- 
moveable, with downcast eyes, apparently awake to 
nothing around them. Rice and fruit were laid in 
the middle of the floor before them, with brass cups 
and other utensils. The native musicians struck up 
a soft, slow, and whining tune with tomtoms and 
sulings (drums and flageolets.) Now a handsomely 
dressed Malay entered and squatted on the floor. 
He salaamed down to the mats several times, after 
which he commenced to move his arms in slow and 
graceful snakelike movements, glistening snakelike. 
On he goes, gradually warming with the accelerated 
music till he rises on his feet, and moves round and 
round, with a brass vase upon his head. He 
wriggles in apparent ecstacy as he contorts his 
supple form, till at length exhausted he drops on 



NATIVE MAEEIAGE CEEEMONY. 



59 



the floor, and the music ceases. An elder now 
steps forward, and utters many passages from the 
Koran, unintelligible either to us or the Malays. 
Some minor ceremonies are gone through, such as 
placing rice in the hands of the betrothed, and 
these being completed, the couple were said to be 
married. They were consequently carried out, and 
we departed. The after feasts and rejoicings we did 
not remain to witness ; no doubt they would be 
lively and protracted. In some cases they extend 
over several days. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

KOCKCHAI. 

After about twelve months, I could converse tole- 
rably well in the Malayan language. The conversa- 
tion of my friends no longer appeared a chattering 
jargon, tiresome to listen to. The prominent ex- 
pressions first impressed themselves on the memory ; 
then, by degrees, a soft flowing language issued out 
of the apparent chaos of words. With the posses- 
sion of the language of the country, the people no 
longer passed and repassed as groups of strange 
folks, in coloured cotton prints of grotesque costume. 
Our recognitions now were frequent, and our con- 
versations friendly. The Malay — the bloodthirsty, 
revengeful, perfidious Malay- — had subsided into a 
good-humoured, respectful, unsophisticated, little 
copper-coloured man, with a scanty light dress upon 
him. With such men who could not be good 
friends ? When out on our excursions, hot, knocked 
up, gasping for breath, melting with the fierce 
noonday sun, who would not climb the tall cocoa- 
nut, and bring down the sweetest of the tope ? 



KOCKCHAI. 



61 



Or when this was not to be had, who would not 
search the pine-apple garden to bring forth the 
most luscious fruit, redundant with juicy nectar ? 
Or if this was also wanting, who would not draw 
the grateful niris from the pendant attap plant? 
This was the Malay man in his own home — in the 
country of his birth, family, and affections. I 
speak of the land Malay. There were others be- 
sides the Malays inhabiting the island, i. e., the 
Chinese, Bugis, Siamese, Burmese, Bengalese, Klings, 
Armenians, Jews, &c, &c. All spoke in the lingua 
franca of the East, so easy communication could be 
had by all who had mastered the Malay language. 

The subject of the present sketch was a native of 
Penang, but of Chinese descent ; his father had 
been a leading merchant in the early days of the 
settlement ; from him considerable property - had 
been inherited, though by this time a good deal of 
it had been dissipated. His father's grave was 
visited by the blind traveller Holman, on his voyage 
round the world. Kockchai was an enterprising 
man; he planted largely, and entered into many 
speculations, few of which seem to have added to 
his means. As agent for the Siamese government 
of Ligor, he was a man of consequence amongst the 
Keddah Malays, and Siamese. Indeed he was 
approached on all fours by the meaner classes of the 
latter. Kockchai had his town house in the city, 
and his country boxes in his nutmeg plantations. It 
is in one of the latter that I will introduce him to the 



62 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



reader. The box is of cheap and fragile construc- 
tion, but picturesquely situated, and well shaded by 
tall palm-trees. I was very intimate with Kockchai 
for several years, but never saw his wife or daughters. 
To have exposed these to the gaze of his friend the 
white man, would have been a cause of shame to him 
— to have asked their acquaintance an insult not to 
be forgiven. The reasons, though inexplicable to 
the Anglo-Saxon in Europe, are obvious to those of 
Oriental countries. Amongst all the leading tribes 
of Indo-Chinese, polygamy aud concubinage being 
prevalent, their codes of morals are on a loose foot- 
ing. This reason will suffice at present. The 
origin, causes, and effects, may be discussed at 
length hereafter. Under the above circumstances, 
I only knew Kockchai and some of his sons. The 
interior economy of his house was a sealed book to 
me. Even descendants of Europeans fall into the 
same custom in the seclusion of their women, and all 
friendly meetings of the sexes are apart. The men 
occupy the halls and verandahs, the women the 
interior apartments. 

Kockchai might have been forty-five years of age 
at this time. There he sits, in the usual Chinese 
dress, in a large arm-chair, with his feet up on the 
front part of the seat, chewing siri and betel, and 
sipping sugarless and creamless tea. On seeing his 
friend coming, he whisks down his tail, and comes 
smiling to shake hands, calling the syce at the same 
time to take charge of the pony. The next thing 



KOCKCHAI. 



63 



would be to ask the khabar or news ; this would 
probably be regarding the defeat of Tuanku Ma- 
homed Saad, and his retreat from Keddah now 
being occupied by the Siamese. From this we 
would proceed to discuss the systems of planting 
nutmegs, cloves, sugar, indigo, rice, betel nuts, and 
cocoa nuts, in all of which Kockchai had great 
experience. These discussions were most instruc- 
tive to me — practical, amusing, scientific. The 
little secrets of culture, the times of bearing, and 
the profits, were all thoroughly sifted by this 
intelligent Indo-Chinese. 

Exhausting this subject, we would go on to the 
local politics of the place ; and, in doing so, Kock- 
chai would put pertinent questions as to the govern- 
mental system of Europeans. The East India 
Company to him was an enigma ; for the governors 
of empires — from Persia to China and Japan — were 
Emperors or Sultans. How could a company of 
sudagars (merchants) hold the greatest empire in 
the East ? " And again," he continued, " look at 
the governors we have in Pulo Pinang. I knew 
them as wild scamps of boys ; now they order about 
men-of-war and Sepoy regiments, they hang muti- 
neers and pirates, and do as they like. No greater 
men than they are to be seen, yet this cannot be 
their power ; the power must come from somewhere 
else. But," says Kockchai, with a knowing 
smile, " talking of governors, how is it that Tuan 
of the civil service is looked down upon 



64' 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



by Europeans ? Myself and my class used to be 
looked down upon by the pure Chinese, but that is 
not the case now." Then he added, " I was very 
friendly with Tuan — ■ — . Said I to him, ' Tuan 

janganmarah (don't be angry). May I ask a 

question?' 'Yes,' says Tuan . 'But,' said 

I, c will you agree not to be angry whatever I may 

say ?' ' No,' said Tuan . ' Then,' said I, 

' how is it that the Europeans tell me that there is 
something korong (inferior) with you ?' ' Ah,' says 
he, starting like to eat me, ' Kockchai, I will be 
Governor of Pulo Pinang yet.' He turned on his 
heel, and would scarcely ever look at me again." 
Here is a lesson ; a proud, well educated Eurasian 
of high hopes and fine feelings rudely trespassed 
upon ; would that only such as Kockchai were 
guilty of this. 

Now we turn to religion. I explain the tenets of 
Christianity as well as I am able ; but I fear with 
little success in my newly acquired language. He is 
polite, and says, " We believe in God also, the author 
of all things, That God must be the same God as 
your God ; but my countrymen have many supersti- 
tions which the ignorant men and women believe 
in ; for instance, to-morrow is the sambayang hramat 
(religious rites at the groves). I and my whole 
family must be there. We take pork, sweetmeats, 
and all sorts of eatables, and place them before the 
grave of my father. We then bow to his manes ; 
and after allowing, as is supposed, the essence to be 



KOCKCHAI. 



65 



removed, we carry the feast to the lawn, and finish 
all up. Now I know well enough this is all non- 
sense, there is no difference in the eatables that I 
can see ; but the vjomen and children believe otherwise, 
and I must ikoot (follow) them, or there would be a 
a nice ' how do you do ' for it." 

These were the sentiments of an intelligent 
Chinese. How great a change has taken place 
since that time ! He and many other Chinese of 
my acquaintance seemed to be ripe for the better 
and purer religion. Their superstitions were gross ; 
their priesthood ignorant, degraded, and despised. 
They professed a distorted Buddhism which their 
intelligent minds criticised unfavourably ; but they 
were unacquainted with a higher faith upon which 
they might repose. 



p 



CHAPTEE XIV 



THE FATAL ACCIDENT. 

I was wrapped in the arms of Morpheus one night, 
when I was suddenly aroused by my Malay ser- 
vant Yusof, who, in a great state of fright, and 
excitement, called me up, for a man had been 
crushed in a sugar-mill, working close by. It was 
then at work night and day to secure an over-ripe 
crop. I was up in an instant, and hastened to the 
scene. Here I found Yusof 's information too true. 
A poor Malay had allowed his arm to be caught in 
trying to snatch his bill-hook, which had been carried 
into the rollers in feeding in the canes. His hand 
was drawn in, on and on, in two seconds' time, till 
the monster machinery ground against his shoulders. 
No presence of mind could have saved him, as the 
machinery could not be stopped in a moment. 

When I arrived, the mill had been stopped, and 
the poor fellow extricated; and I now found him 
supported by several awe-stricken Malays, his right 
arm dangling by his side, a mass of mangled flesh, 



THE FATAL ACCIDENT. 



67 



as thin pancake. When he saw me, he cried 
in agony, " Oh Tuan, Tuan, for the sake of Allah 
(God), bring down your gun and shoot me. Kasihan, 
tuan (have pity, sir), and shoot me," broke forth 
from the poor creature. Horrified, my heart sank 
within me (I was then a lad). It would indeed 
have been well had he died, and escaped the torture 
he then suffered, and was about to suffer. I directed 
the Malays to bear him up to a shed, and to send 
for a European surgeon, and the man's own rela- 
tives. This done, I awaited with anxiety the issue. 
Pen cannot describe the wailings of his poor mother. 
Maternal feelings are deep, their range is universal, 
and they vindicated themselves here. The Malay 
mother's undying love drew forth tears of sympathy 
from all present. 

Ere long the surgeon arrived, and the result of 
his examination was, that, to give even a distant 
chance of life, an amputation must take place at the 
shoulder-joint. The poor man was gently informed 
of this ; and a reaction, after his terror and excite- 
ment, having taken place, he craved to live. The 
operation (for chloroform was not then known) was 
an excruciating one ; it was performed by a bold, 
skilled, and firm hand. The ghastly remnants were 
removed, and laudanum brought relief. The side 
and shoulders had been so much torn that faint 
hope was given of recovery, but this faint hope was 
grasped at by the poor Malay. His mother ca- 
ressed the poor fellow's head, sang sweet lullabies, 

f 2 



68 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



wailed and wept by turns. Yet there was hope, 
and she was cheerful at short intervals. 

The poor man lingered for three days ; and as I 
tended him at frequent intervals, I saw much of 
the workings of his nature. At times cheerful, he 
would talk of his prospects with smiles. At other 
times depressed, he would turn his wan, weary 
face to me ; and, with an inexpressible air of hope, 
mingled with fear, say, " Tuan, shall I live ?" To 
so earnest and piteous an appeal what could I say 
but "Ask help from God, and he may hear your 
prayer !" He was a Mahomedan. Was I right in 
saying prayers were universal ? Conscience tells me 
" Yes." The fanatical of my countrymen only 
would say No. And I have met such fanatics in 
the garb of lambs. The prayers he uttered were 
not answered, and he died. The wailings of the 
mother at the dead of night sunk into my very soul. 

The mill that had caused the sad accident was of 
European construction. It was the first erected in 
these parts. Its large proportions and great powers 
were a source of wonder to the natives, who came in 
crowds to see it. They sat all day long looking at 
it, and when darkness came on, they went away. 
The mill now became an object of terror, a super- 
stitious dread got hold of the native mind, and no 
one could be induced to come near it. The works 
were stopped, and the crops were in danger. What 
was to be done ? I consulted with an old Kling, 
called Krannee Bawasab, and he said, " Leave it to 



THE FATAL ACCIDENT. 



69 



me, the mill will be at work to-morrow. I must go 
and get a Malay dukun (doctor), but you must lend 
me five dollars." 

When it was dark that evening, the Krannee 
came back with an old Malay dukun, carrying im- 
mense hanks of coarse thread. After various incan- 
tations he tied one end of the thread to the mill, 
and then he carefully let out the thread so that it 
might not break as he wended his way to a kramut 
(burial-place) half a mile distant. Here he tied the 
other end of the thread to a murderer's grave of 
great reputation. A murderer's grave is a place of 
pilgrimage amongst the Malays. This done, he 
repaired to the mill ; and, having assembled the 
Malays, he exorcised the hantus (evil spirits) that 
had taken possession of the mill. This ceremony 
being finished, he drove the hantus along the thread 
to the grave, broke the thread, and declared the mill 
free to commence again, which was done accord- 
ingly. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PENANG HILLS. 

However patched like the Penang hills appear from 
the sea, their tops afford most delicious retreats 
from the scorching heat of the plains. On the 
summit of the Great Hill several bungalows are 
perched. The air here is buoyant, cool, elevating 
to the spirits, bracing to the nerves, and exciting 
to the appetite. Happy are the individuals whose 
means or duties will allow of frequent residence up 
here. Here are the governor's, recorder's, and 
principal merchants' bungalows. Here is a Sana- 
torium, far-famed over the East, to which many 
broken-down constitutions resort. To ascend and 
view this wonderful mountain, was my earnest 
desire ; and the invitation of a friend soon enabled 
me to gratify my curiosity. I ascended the wind- 
ing zigzag path early one morning, accompanied by 
a ship captain and a purser. We were mounted on 
smart little Delhi ponies. We had not proceeded 
far before a formidable snake stopped the way ; 
and so bold was it, that we were forced to dismount 



PENANG HILLS. 71 

and pitch stones at it before it would glide into the 
forest. The length of this snake must have been 
eight feet. Of course the boa constrictor, which is 
here found, grows to a much greater length. There 
is something so repulsive and hideous in the snake, 
that no wonder it is the most cursed of all living 
things. 

On we went, alternately admiring the expanding 
landscape, and the gigantic forest trees and ferns. 
We amuse ourselves with the chattering monkeys ; 
but what is that which rivets the captain's atten- 
tion ? It is a centipede crawling up a tree. What 
a disgusting creature, with its immense forceps and 
many feet, its bright brown colour and hideous 
eyes ! We leave it alone, and ascend the path. 
The air perceptibly cools, the mists are refreshing ; 
and, when we arrive at Strawberry Hill, we are 
equally charmed by the magnificent wide-spreading 
prospect, and the true welcome of our host. 

Our first luxury is a bath in cold water. How it 
strings the nerves and whets the appetite ! The 
gong sounds, and the native servants wait at break- 
fast-table. Fish, prawn-curries, cocoanut-curries, 
rice, the whitest and lightest breakfast loaves in 
the world, tea, coffee, cream, rich yellow fresh 
butter, sambals and roes, are done ample justice 
to ; our hearts rejoice, our good humour expands. 
The cool gentle zephyrs blow through the verandah, 
■ — our enjoyment is thorough. We retire to a shady 
seat, commanding a panoramic view of the Keddah 



72 LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 

and Perak mountains and plains, the little islands, 
the narrow straits, the blue unbounded ocean. We 
turn again, and our eyes rest on the white glittering 
houses of the town, three thousand feet beneath us, 
the bands of intersecting roads, the clean regular 
nutmeg plantations, the scattered villages, and the 
green palm groves. Well has Penang earned the 
title of " Gem of the ocean well has she incited 
her numerous poets to sing of her in rapturous lays. 

After we are rested, we walk out to make 
agreeable calls, and then we stretch out to the 
western hill, which is somewhat higher but does 
not command so interesting or so varied a prospect. 
On this day, my preconceived ideas of Penang were 
realized to their full extent ; but there was this 
alloy, that, as is the case with Italian scenery, the 
plains and villages looked better the further they 
were distant from you. Distance lends enchant- 
ment to the view ; but close proximity dissolves the 
charm. 

Besides the Great Hill, there were several others, 
having their solitary bungalow perched on their very 
tops. Thus there was Mount Erskine, Mount 
Olivia, named after " Raffles' " first wife, the High- 
lands of Scotland, Jackson's Hill, Ibbetson's Hill, 
Brown's Hill, &c. On some, the houses were kept 
in good repair — in others, they were fast going to 
decay from having been abandoned. In regard to 
Jackson's Hill a melancholy tale is told. A retired 
officer of that name had pitched upon it as a home 



PENANG HILLS. 



73 



for the evening of his days. He had a fine house 
built on it, and plantations laid out, but when he 
brought his family to take possession, all caught 
fever and died. The entire family was cut off at 
one fell swoop. The place had to be abandoned, 
and now the property was decaying rapidly. 

Incited by curiosity, I rode up to this hill to take 
a view of the remains. I made my way up by a 
broad walk now rapidly being overgrown. I strug- 
gled through the bushes, notwithstanding the at- 
tacks of the land leeches which here infested the 
leaves. These little creepers drop from the foliage, 
and fastening themselves on the neck and ankles, 
gorge themselves with blood. After an hour's 
travel, I reached the bungalow, which I found yet in 
fair repair, the glass of the windows being whole 
and untouched. The nutmeg and clove trees yet 
held their heads above the rising blukar (scrub). 
The whole place had an air of melancholy that could 
be well sympathized in by a solitary traveller such 
as I was. All was death-like. There was neither 
motion nor sound to be heard excepting the child- 
like wail of the unka (ape), as now and then it cried 
out from the deep gorges beneath. Fit companion 
for the fatal spot ! 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE INDIAMAN. 

One day I had made an excursion across the har- 
bour to province Wellesley. A large sail was descried 
in the offing. It was morning, and the sea breeze 
had not yet set in, so she lay motionless upon the 
glassy waters ; ere long the royals filled slightly, 
then the lower sails began to show symptoms of 
life ; at length she got steerage way. She headed 
for the harbour, upon which she bore down with all 
sail set, from ringtail to jib-a-jib, and from mainsails 
to skyscrapers. As she neared the port, the smaller 
sails were taken in and furled ; still she approaches, 
and the courses are hauled up, top-gallant sails are 
furled, — she is now near the anchorage. She dips 
her ensign to H.M.S. " Hyacinth/' lying off the 
admiralty house. The main topsail is backed, her 
way is lost, the yards are lowered to the caps, and 
down goes the anchor. There she rides with all 
her masts and yards unclothed, a 1400-ton Indiaman 
direct from London. 

This was a few years after the Honourable Com- 



THE INDIAMAN. 



75 



pany of Merchant Adventurers trading to the East 
— commonly called the East India Company — had 
lost their monopoly of the trade. Yet this was 
once one of their chartered ships, owned by a 
wealthy capitalist in London. The style of the old 
company was yet kept up to the old mark. The 
officers wore their uniforms ; and their trading pro- 
pensities, though curtailed by severer restrictions, 
were not at all blunted. The old mercenary cove- 
tousness, that so universally enriched the servant at 
the expense of his masters, had no abatement. I 
well remember a story of a captain of the olden 
times who had strict injunctions to carry his ship 
direct to China, having neglected these orders. His 
ship was only partially full of woollens and iron- 
ware, so here was a chance of a fortune lost to him 
were he to obey the orders of his Honourable 
masters in Leadenhall Street. So he took care to 
spring an important spar, bear up along the coast 
of Sumatra, and make for Penang. On hailing the 
pilot, the zealous captain's first inquiry was for the 
price of pepper and betel nut, not for the price of 
spars. He knew he could make cent, per cent, on 
a cargo of these articles by conveyance to China, 
and this was his errand. He loaded with these 
articles on his own account, and no doubt bought a 
house, and set up his establishment in Belgravia on 
the proceeds. 

To proceed : the captain and officers of the present 
ship soon landed, and busied themselves amongst 



76 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



the merchants, selling and bartering at a great rate. 
The captain had soft goods and spirits, the first 
officer hardware and wines, the purser all the above, 
besides cheeses and ales, the second officer had port 
wine and brandy ; and so forth down to the cook, 
whose investments were in sardines and slops. The 
captain and purser having entree to the most wealthy 
circles, had great opportunities for the disposal of 
their wares ; and here it might be remarked how 
the spirit of " the shop " intruded itself amongst 
circles polite : bargains were offered by the purser 
at dinners, breakfasts, and suppers, without much 
regard to decorum or good breeding. Yet the occa- 
sion seemed to justify this departure from the strict 
rules of etiquette — for he was a stranger, bringing 
news from a far away and much-loved home. His 
stay was to be short, so time was precious. This 
was the opportunity for settlers to stock their 
cellars with Madeira and Cape wines, for the ship 
had touched at both places on her voyage. 

The event of an Indiaman dropping anchor in 
the harbour was a great one — a bustle and stir went 
through the whole island. Palanquins and ponies 
were held in great requisition for the men on leave. 
A gong was sounded, by order of the police authori- 
ties, all through the streets of the town, warning 
respectable women to keep indoors for the next three 
days, as the English were coming ashore — strange 
compliment to the English. The native pater- 
familias feels uneasy and locks his harem. The 



THE INDIAMAN. 



77 



arrack shops are filled with Jack tars " half seas 
over." They drive about the town, each with his 
coolie, whom he affectionately encircles with his 
left arm. But good humour does not always main- 
tain itself. Here is a Jack hauling along a palan- 
quin, with a dozen naked natives pulling against 
him. They drag backwards till he rushes at them. 
They fly, and he hauls again. On the coolies come 
behind and pull him backwards. Again he scatters 
them by a charge in all directions. Now the native 
police interfere ; Jack is knocked down with a baton, 
and he is carried off into durance vile. The news 
spreads amongst his shipmates, and a rescue is de- 
termined on. Three sailors stagger along near the 
gaol. They pretend to be harmlessly drunk, so are 
allowed to near the entrance. One springs like a 
tiger on the tall lean sepoy, embraces him and his 
musket, and holds him thus as fast as a vice. 
The others spring on the piled fire-arms, and with 
these they send the guard flying. Other mates 
come up, and the gaol is ransacked, till their fellow 
is found and carried off in triumph to the town. 
The Malays sing a pantun, of which this is the 
translation — it is short, pithy, and expressive : — 

" The Malay man eats rice, 
The Chinaman eats pig, 
But the white man drinks grog only." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE KINDURI. 

The European proprietor or planter, and especially 
he whose family has been long resident in the 
country, generally maintains a good understanding 
with his tenants or neighbours. The tenants and 
neighbours may be Hindoos, Mussulmans, or Budd- 
hists, without producing either dislike or prejudice. 
If his family be of good repute, tradition upholds 
his favourable influence ; his creed may be oppo- 
nent to theirs, yet they forget the naserani (Naza- 
rine), and see only the European gentleman, liberal 
in sentiment, superior in understanding, just in 
dealing, and affable in intercourse. These qualities, 
when they exist, easily win the affections of an un- 
sophisticated race — simple in mind, credulous, super- 
stitious, sensitive to kindness, and patient under 
injury. 

On one occasion a planter of the island gave a 
Kinduri, or native feast, near his mansion, which 
was open to all comers, be they Hindoo, Malay, or 
Chinese. To this I had the favour of an invitation ; 



THE KINDUKT. 



79 



and, in company with my host, and his other 
friends, we repaired to the banquet to see what 
was going on. 

Arriving on the ground about mid-day, we found 
it situated on a grassy lawn, bounded by tall cocoa- 
nut-trees. Under the shade of these trees, were 
groups of natives dressed out in their gayest costumes. 
The total number could not have been less than 
two thousand. The guests were of divers colours, 
creeds, and nations, all harmoniously bent on enjoy- 
ment and mutual forbearance ; yet there was no 
intermingling of food ; each class, nation, or caste 
cooked and eat by themselves. However much they 
might intermingle in looking at the various plays 
and pastimes, in regard to their food there was no 
abatement of jealousy. Several buffaloes had been 
killed for the Malays, dozens of pigs for the Chi- 
nese, and there was no want of vegetables and 
curry-stuffs for the Hindoos. Thus the whole area 
was full of savoury pungent smells, no doubt attrac- 
tive to the taste of each and all. Certain it is, that 
the number of happy faces, the salaams and recog- 
nitions that awaited our host that day, showed that 
he was the most popular of men. 

As the food was ready, so did the people squat 
down on the ground and devour. The Malays with 
their tubs of rice, bowls of curried buffalo, and 
sauces of sambals (condiments). They dug into the 
contents with their right hands, carefully keeping 
their left hands from the dishes, for reasons it 



80 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



would offend good taste to mention. The Chinese 
with their kits of rice, and cups full of stewed pork, 
shovelled mouthfuls into their wide open jaws, 
laughing and joking in their uncouth dialects. Then 
again, the Hindoos eat their simple, quiet, and un- 
social meals, hidden in some out-of-the-way corner 
where nobody could see them — nay, not even their 
entertainer. Yet the aroma of their meals is agree- 
able ; and they grunt satisfaction at intervals in a 
manner that is not to be described to ears polite. 

While the feast goes on continuously, so do the 
games and plays. The basket foot-ball is tossed 
high into the air ; pushing with the pole, racing, 
and kindred amusements are indulged in. The more 
exciting games of cock-fighting (sdbong ayam) and 
gambling (tikam poh } or mein judi), to which the 
Malays are so much addicted, are disallowed here ; 
but there is no lack of other amusements. It is 
now dusk : and what is that quietly-seated crowd 
over yonder doing ? Let us go and see. There all 
sit ; — not a breath is drawn, not a word uttered ; 
— they sit for hours listening, and looking the best- 
behaved assembly I ever saw. It is the Wyang 
Kulit, or Cheritre Jawa (Leather Puppets, or Tales 
of Java.) Forbidden to be acted in its own country, 
now held by the Dutch, it finds a sphere and 
asylum in Malay and British territory. I shall try 
and describe what I understood of it — and this was 
very little — and I believe most of the native audience 
were in the same predicament. 



THE KINDURI. 81 

A large calico curtain, or sheet, hung on a frame, 
separated the actor from the crowd. Thus con- 
cealed, the actor rehearsed continuously and for 
hours, without stopping, either history or romance, 
the actual meaning of which no one could explain 
further than that the narratives appertained to 
ancient history, in which the Javanese kings and 
demigods were the heroes. This, by exciting the 
race to remembrance of their former independence, 
was held to have political effects so serious as not 
to be endured by the present rulers of that beautiful 
island. While the narrative continued, occasional 
shadows flickered on the curtain. These were the 
shadows of the images of the heroes, made of 
leather, and drawn backwards and forwards by 
strings. And such figures ! The heroes of the 
Javanese were truly not men. They stood on two 
long stork-like legs, and wriggled about two lanky 
loose-jointed arms. But the heads and faces of the 
heroes surpassed the limbs, in the goose-like length 
of beak, the snake-like contour of head. Strange, 
uncouth, and fantastic must be the ancient mytho- 
logy of the Javanese. Unlike the sesthetic Greeks, 
whose demigods were represented in the human 
form divine, their imaginations have followed the 
instinct of a grovelling and subdued people ; so 
their demigods had not attained manhood ; they 
were of an inferior type, — a type of the Javanese in 
their rank amongst the nations of the earth. 

We tire of this, and proceed to a more noisy 

G 



82 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



scene. The audience is settled on the ground ; but 
occasional bursts of laughter take place. The actors 
are in the centre of the crowd, and are singing, ac- 
companied by the drum and the flute. This is the 
mein manora, or Siamese play, of which the Malays 
are passionately fond. The acting consists of sing- 
ing, dancing, joking, and repartee, boxing, kicking, 
and romping. The most attractive cf the dramatis 
persona? is a beautiful, half-naked, copper-coloured 
girl, who sits in the midst, absorbed in unimpas- 
sioned contemplative mood. The music waxes louder 
as we approach ; the girl shows the slightest sign 
of motion ; a slight jingling of her numerous brass 
armlets takes place. Her arms begin to extend, as 
does the half-torpid snake, and in curves as graceful 
as its rising neck. The long finger-wires rear their 
crests as the plumed cockatoo. The silk plaid that 
lies across her breast flutters, — it is there not as a 
hiding, but as a decoration to her expanding charms. 
She rises slowly and by degrees, — inanimate, down- 
cast. She turns her slender body, rearing her arms 
in graceful sweeps over her head. Grentle, sleepy 
music accompanies the while. Her armlets jingle 
as she waves her slender arms in curves and circles. 
Her body, as pliant as the snake, assumes the most 
graceful postures. All eyes are rivetted on her. 
The music becomes animated, and her eye now 
sparkles ; she is full of life and feeling. Her ges- 
tures quicken ; she is the essence of passion ! A 
loud buzz issues from the crowd — a buzz of intense 



THE KINDURI. 



83 



enjoyment, — for the chord of the Asiatic's heart 
had been struck. His ecstasy has its short life ; 
the music gradually dies out ; while the actress 
sinks exhausted to the ground ! 

Now the Merry Andrew jeers, laughs, and pranks 
about. One chord had been struck ; but it must 
not be played upon too strongly, so the ludicrous 
succeeds the amatory. When Merry Andrew had 
finished his performance, he took off his long, 
Eoman-nosed red-cheeked mask, and displayed a 
small featured flat face, withered and careworn — 
a metamorphosis that suggested a moral which 
might have been read to advantage on that occasion 
by some who were present. 

Leaving this, we proceed to the Meinan Kling, 
or Kling Theatre. This is also in the open ground ; 
but seats are prepared for the Europeans. The 
stage for the actors was, in a rude way, not unlike 
the stages of Europe. Actors came forward, re- 
cited, conversed, fought, danced, and embraced in 
the manner of their white confreres. The heroes 
and heroines of the performances were painted in 
the flesh colour of Europeans — proving that a brown 
race duly honours the pale-faced sons of colder lati- 
tudes. The colloquies being in the most jumbled 
of Indian dialects, were difficult to understand ; 
but an interpreter afforded us a fair knowledge of 
the plot as it was gradually wrought out. The 
forms of these natives are tall and handsome, those 
of their women symmetrical and graceful. But their 

g 2 



84 



LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



theatrical taste, as displa}^ed tliat night, I am forced 
to say was coarse in the extreme — combining the 
lowest ribaldry with the most immodest actions 
that I had ever witnessed, though they were looked 
at and gloated over by men, women, and children. 

The representation, as explained to us, was of a 
young hill native's first entry into a city, where he 
falls into disreputable company. In such company, 
his experiences were grossly displayed in a most 
practical manner. The native spectators, male and 
female, I must add, did not appear sensible of the 
indelicacy of the representation. Its moral seemed 
to the point ; its expositions appropriate. " But, 
why," it may be asked, " did our host, an European, 
allow it ?' 5 How could he help himself? The 
whole affair was under the management of Kodjoo, 
a married man of high repute — a father of sons and 
daughters. Kodjoo was responsible to the crowd, 
and the crowd approved ; so that interference was 
out of the question. 

But after we had done with this, something 
more attractive seemed to have arisen ; for men, 
women, and children were seen running helter 
skelter in one particular direction. The cause was 
soon explained by a number of Indian fireworks, 
blazing and sparkling over the heads of the cocoa- 
nut trees. The blue lights almost turned night 
into day, aud cast a white tinge over the dark 
countenances of the spectators. An image is reared 
aloft amidst the laughter of the crowd, the women 



THE KINDUEI. 



85 



and children welcome it with the cries of Orang tua — 
orang tua (old man). The image is not long in 
doing its part. It jets fire from its month, then 
from the eyes, then from the nose, next from the 
finger ends, next from the toe ends. Excitement 
and merriment increase at each display till a climax 
is reached by a stream of fire emanating from a 
portion of the figure to which reference cannot he 
made. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

THE DEVIL CAST OUT. 

Accompanied by Bawasab, I arrived at a bungalow 
that stood on the plains opposite George Town ; 
perhaps it would be difficult now to indicate the 
site of that same bungalow, but I will try to de- 
scribe it and its surrounding scenery. 

The plain, at that time, was covered with low 
scrub of kamuntings and hadudus. Some tall casua- 
rina trees reared their lofty heads over the sea 
beach. Around their roots, and intermingling with 
the white sands, was the broad-leafed weed called 
kang hong laut. Alternate ridges of sand and 
swamp, extended a mile inland; then a dense tall 
mangrove forest hemmed all in for miles. No one, 
excepting the deer-stalkers, had ever penetrated it. 
Indeed so dense and impenetrable was it, that all the 
traffic of the well-populated plains in the interior, 
had either to go round by Tulloh Ramis, or by 
Prize Biver — either way being many miles of di- 
vergence. 

Bounding the waste of scrub and swamp was 



THE DEVIL CAST OUT. 



87 



Bagan Luar to the south, a village of Chinese and 
Malays. This village was densely planted with 
tall cocoa nuts. To the north was the village of 
Bagan Jermal, inhabited by Malay fishermen. 
Here also was a dense grove of palm trees. For 
miles the plain was waste, excepting at these two 
places, — a haunt for tigers, wild hogs, thieves, and 
cut-throats. A deserted redoubt was placed half 
way between the villages above noticed, over which 
a few luxuriant cocoa-nut and casuarma trees reared 
their heads. The site of the bungalow was called 
Kuhong Boyah, that is, alligator bog — a fit name. 
The spot was dismal, lonely, and hideous ; for, 
along the shores, the alligator infested the muddy 
flats, monthly, nay weekly pouncing on the prawn 
fishers, who breast deep, with an apathy and infatua- 
tion truly remarkable, pushed their nets over the 
very beds of the monsters. At night, clouds of 
mosquitoes darkened the rooms — a source of torment 
not to be evaded, excepting under the curtains. 
Many a time would I sit, as lonely as a church- 
mouse, studying the hard words of Marsdens Malay 
Grammar, enveloped in sarangs from head to foot, 
allowing only the eyes to have the light. Even 
here the little tormentors could not be warded off; 
but a constant blowing and flapping had to be kept 
up. Millions of frogs also set up a horrid croaking 
din, which prevented conversation, with such Malays 
as would stealthily draw near to have a bechara 
dangan tuan (a conversation with master). 



88 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



In such a place, there was a feverish insecurity 
which had its excitement, — its romance, as a pallia- 
tive to the dull, dismal dreariness of the evenings. 
Pirates and petty thieves were known constantly to 
be roving about. The footprints of the tiger were 
often scanned in the morning near and about the 
buffalo pens, the huge wild hog too had often broken 
in and ruthlessly destroyed months of planting and 
years of growth. Every one was armed here. If 
the Malay had not his villanous kris by his side he 
had a huge goto (chopper), so loaded pistols were 
the constant companions of my pillow. A dozen 
Klings slept in the verandah, armed with huge 
battens, no doubt to be flung away to lighten their 
flight if danger had appeared. But Yusof, my 
trusty body servant — my Malay boy, wore an im- 
plement he could use, as he lay outside of my bed- 
room door, which was a flamed damask kris panjang, 
of ugly look but not of great dimensions. 

One night as I was spelling over some Malay 
oondang oondang (laws) — with Bawasab sitting- 
tailor position on the matted floor, trying, no doubt, 
how to make two pieces go as far as four — I sat 
and looked at him, the companion of my drawing- 
room. My thoughts then took a flight far away, 
to beaming faces, bright eyes, dear associations. 
Again I looked at Bawasab : the contrast of cir- 
cumstances appalled me for a moment ; yet I began 
to study the features and dress of my native com- 
panion. There he was poring over a dirty book 



THE DEVIL CAST OUT. 



89 



full of strange uncouth characters— it was Tamul, 
with its awenis and bawenis. He was a little man, 
complexion dark brown. One of his eyes had a 
great white beam in it, it was stone blind. Not so 
the other; that was as good as two — snake-like, 
sparkling, dull, or animated, according to circum- 
stances. Prompt in his master's service — active, wiry, 
intelligent — he travelled over dangerous ground 
night or day to gain a point. At dead of night, 
when the wind had died away, he would push across 
the straits in a little canoe, concealing money or 
valuables in some unthought-of corner ; and, narrow 
as his escapes might have been, he was never 
caught ! He wore his turban thrown far back, also 
a white long baju of cotton, a shawl round his waist, 
white cotton loose trousers, and he carried his keys 
upon his shoulders like King David of yore. The 
keys being tied to one end of his pocket handker- 
chief, while his siree, betel and tobacco would be tied 
up in the opposite corner. There he was a picture 
of contentment — drawing the white chunam over a 
leaf of siree. 

But what is that gaddoh (noise) ? Bawasab and 
I start to our feet. Our panic is short — for here a 
woman rushes up to a corner of the bungalow with 
a crowd of Malays after her. We descend and in- 
quire the cause of the tumult. The woman cowers 
and draws herself up in a lump. Her husband 
dances about and vociferates, half in terror half in 
passion. His wife heeds him not. An elder steps 



90 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



forward and explains to Bawasab that sheitan suda 
masoh (the devil has got inside of her). This ex- 
planation is perfectly satisfactory to Bawasab : it is 
quite intelligible, and he is a man of action at once. 
Bawasab cries, " Bring a pail of water, yon kurbows 
(buffaloes), and I will soon cast him out for you." 
This mandate is quickly obeyed by numerous will- 
ing hands, and the woman is taken hold of by her 
friends. Bawasab utters rapid formularies in his 
rough, rolling, rattling Tamul, — the better that they 
are not understood, the more potent as they are 
mysterious to the simple crowd. At each sentence 
he sprinkles water over the enchanted one ; and, at 
the conclusion, the whole pailful is cast over her. 
This done, she revives and becomes sensible ; the 
devil has gone out of her, and she was restored to 
her husband's affections. 

She had just given birth to an infant. Passing 
strange this, oh ye mothers of England ! you will 
not believe it to be possible, still truth is sometimes 
stranger than fiction. I was then a lad and thought 
it strange too. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE LAND PURCHASE. 

I arose next morning at daylight ; a cool land wind 
blew its gentle breath through the Venetians, reviv- 
ing and invigorating in its effects. A mist hung 
close down to the ground, enveloping everything in 
obscurity. The heads of the tall casuarina trees were 
scarcely to be discerned. The elephants were busy 
eating their morning meal, consisting of plantain 
stalks, leaves, and sugar-cane. A kitten had lost 
its mother, and wandering out approached these 
huge animals. The elephants were female ones. 
They trumpeted with terror, rolling up their trunks 
into their mouths and making strong struggles to 
break their tethers. But this did not avail them ; 
they could not succeed in getting away, so they 
stood trembling all over, and evidenced a degree of 
fear, which to me appeared most surprising and 
ridiculous. Be that as it may, they were only 
quieted by the removal of the little innocent in- 
truder. Now quieted, the elephants proceeded with 



92 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



their meal, whisking about the branches over their 
backs and shoulders to drive away the flies. 

After a good bath, I breakfasted, and taking one of 
the elephants, Bawasab and I mounted for a ride. 
The elephant was guided by a gomala (keeper), 
armed with an iron hook. The keeper sat astride 
on the elephant's neck, where he seemed to have the 
most perfect command of the docile creature. He 
made the huge brute kneel down for us to mount 
the howda, and on our being mounted, it rose. 
Then it proceeded on our journey with a shaking, 
disagreeable gait, but by its conveyance alone could 
we have penetrated through the scrubs and over the 
deep swamps, and by its means at length we were 
brought to the object of our search, viz., the house 
of Tirana. 

Urana was a Malay woman, with a large family 
of sons, whose mode of living was not apparent to 
any one. Her house was situated in the densest 
part of the scrub, from whence various devious and 
difficult outlets diverged. Tirana's family of sons 
would have been held in high estimation had they 
been piratical ; " for," said the Malays, a a pirate 
must necessarily be a man of courage. Our princes 
are pirates." But as they had the character of being 
only thieves, they were despised and disliked. 
" For," said the Makiys, " thieves are cowards, — 
they go below the house to steal fowls in the dark/' 

Now, to maintain my truthfulness, I must fur- 
ther explain that to go below a Malay house is no 



THE LAND PURCHASE. 



93 



difficult matter. There are no stone foundations 
nor solid wails to dig under, but the house being 
raised on posts, the floor is several feet above the 
ground. Below the floor, are generally the goat 
and fowl pens, fenced round with wicker work, to 
guard them from the many enemies, both biped 
and quadruped. 

The reputation of Tirana and her family made it 
our policy to have them shifted to another neigh- 
bourhood. So the purchase of the house and pro- 
perty was a thing to be attained if possible. This 
was the errand of Bawasab, for, and on behalf of his 
white master ; and I was a looker on. When we 
had got the elephant's trunk close up to the door, 
Bawasab greeted the old lady in the most winning 
accents, " Tabbeh, to you, Urana," said he, " I trust 
vou are well." 

6 ' Tabbeh-lah Krannee" replied Urana. " Come 
in ; I am a lone woman, and a poor woman ; but I 
am ashamed to speak before this gentleman you 
have brought. I am not accustomed to see gentle- 
men in my rotten house." 

" Never mind the gentleman, he is young, and 
a bachelor, and wants to make the acquaintance of 
a nice lady like you, Urana," replied Bawasab, with 
a conciliatory mischievous grin. 

We soon got up the ladder; and are seated 
on a mat. The ever ready siree box is placed 
before us, and of this Bawasab partakes. Urana, 
on a closer acquaintance, was seen to be a 



94 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



withered old hag, whose capacious mouth was stuck 
full of siree and tobacco. Her black locks hung 
down in disorder ; and her hands were discoloured 
with a harmless, but ugly species of leprosy, — a 
disease common to the country. Two or three of 
her sons lay on mats behind her, making up for 
want of the last night's sleep ; but one rises suddenly, 
startled at the unusual visitors. The mother allays his 
suspicions with a low word or two, so he brightens 
up and welcomes us with the usual tabbeh. 

Now business commences, and Bawasab is the 
most innocent, affectionate, agreeable man possible. 
He addresses the old lady as mother, and the sons 
as brothers. He says he has a great affection for 
them, — as much as for his nearest relatives, not even 
excepting his own sisters. His flattery is open and 
undisguised, nor is it taken amiss ; for he only 
indulged in Oriental hyperbole. He goes on to 
say that he has a great desire to see them rich, to 
put them in possession of money ; but alas ! he has 
had sore to do with his white master in George- 
town to get any for them. He has a bag of dollars 
under his waist, and slowly he lets one or two drop 
on the floor, and proceeds to suggest to his mother 
what she could do with a bag of dollars all to 
herself. Urana becomes amiable ; her sons shake 
themselves out of sleep ; and their eyes are seen to 
be bound by the sight of the universal dollar. 
Bawasab knows how far he can go ; he makes his 
approaches slowly, now holding Tirana's hand be- 



THE LAND PUECHASE. 



95 



tween his own. No scruples against her disease 
shock him ; and he softly suggests how fifty dollars 
would give her no end of fine clothes for herself, and 
opium for her sons to smoke. She could have these 
luxuries easily by parting with a useless bit of land 
and an old house. The dollars now roll out on 
Bawasab's lap. The sons' eyes glisten ; they would 
steal them if they dare. Urana wavers, and con- 
sults with her sons in a dialect unintelligible to us. 
She replies, " One hundred, and the land is yours." 
Bawasab sees his point is gained, so he haggles, 
draws up his money tight, and asks her if she would 
let him make but one offer. He essays to rise : but 
Urana holds him fast, and tells him he may make 
one offer. " Fifty-one dollars," says Bawasab, " and 
I will dare to speak to my master, but not one doit 
more." She does not accept the offer ; but yet holds 
his hand, and relaxes not her grasp. The dollars 
unfold themselves again, and they are viewed in 
silence. The dollars, the almighty dollars left to 
themselves, produce a magic effect. The sons 
ruminate over the quantity of risks from broken 
bones, when pursuing their avocations, these dollars 
will save them, and the length of time they will be 
able to enjoy themselves in the opium smoker's 
paradise. They now take an active part in the 
treaty ; and, after much bantering, joking, doubling, 
and twisting, the bargain is struck at fifty-one 
dollars twenty-five pice, and twenty dollars is at 
once paid down as earnest money before witnesses, 



96 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



the remainder to be paid on the transfer being made 
at the collector's office. 

As a mere witness to the transaction, it struck 
me as being unique and characteristic. It proved 
that the power of wealth was universal, and the 
weakness of vice was all-pervading, also that these 
bronze and copper-coloured individuals were moved 
by the same motives as their fellow-creatures the 
white men — and urged on by the same necessities. 

Bawasab did not now tarry ; but, taking a most 
affectionate leave, mounted the elephant, and ere he 
was well out of sight chuckled over the fine stroke 
of business he had effected for his white master in 
Penang. The bargain took him an hour to make ; 
but as Bawasab remarked, if you wish to deal with 
these people you must not hurry them. 



OHAPTEE XX. 

OAMUT. 

Oamut was a true Malay ; and, as I was more in 
contact with him than with any other person for a 
whole year, I will describe him as well as I am 
able. At this time, I may say, I lived entirely 
amongst the Malays, seldom seeing Europeans. 
My conversation was in Malay, and current events 
were discussed in that language. 

Oamut might stand about five feet four inches. 
He dressed in the usual manner of Malays, viz., in 
the sarong (plaid), saluar (trousers), and baju (coat). 
On his head he wore a Bugis handkerchief; and on 
his feet he wore sandals. By his side was a kris, 
with which he never parted for a moment. At a 
distance he might have been taken for a Scottish 
highlander ; when near, his copper-coloured skin, 
black twinkling eyes, Mongolian physiognomy, 
proved that he was a Malay. He was independent 
in his tone, but respectful in his manners ; and, 
during my long intercourse with him, he neither 
betrayed a tincture of low breeding, nor a sign of 

H 



98 



LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



loose and improper thoughts. Indeed his sense was 
delicate and keen : his ideas had a tone of high 
standard. He was unmindful of money for any 
other object than what was necessary to maintain 
himself and family. He gradually commanded my 
friendship. I felt I could not but respect him. 
His conversation was intelligent on the affairs of the 
surrounding states ; his information was deep in 
the characteristics of his own race ; and his descrip- 
tions of past and passing events interesting and 
instructive. Yet he could neither read nor write — 
a defect he bewailed with much sorrow. His age 
might have been forty-seven to fifty. In our many 
rambles and rides together, he used to relate the 
history of his own life ; and as an illustration of 
these social incidents I will put down what I can 
remember. 

He was born near Buhit Tingah, on the Juru 
river ; he once pointed out to me the remnant of 
his father's cocoa-nut grove, standing in the midst of 
a plain of lalang (high grass) close to the mangrove 
jungle. Now only three trees served as a mark of 
the spot — a circumstance which drew a sigh from 
the Malay ; for these melancholy remembrances 
brought back the memory of a doting father and 
fond mother, as he knew them in his sunshine of 
childhood ! But he soon turned aside : grave 
thoughts crossed his brow ; for time had dispersed 
the members of that family, and scattered them to 
and fro. Gamut was a wild young man, and wanted 



OAMUT. 



99 



to see the world ; so, in a moment of unguardedness, 
he was caught in the meshes of an enlisting sergeant 
of the Ceylon Bine Corps. Dosed with narcotics, 
and before seeing either father or mother, he was 
carried on board a ship bound for a long foreign 
service. " It is not wonderful," said Oamut to me, 
" that an amok takes place ; for the bereft and 
frenzied youths see the land of their love still in 
view, and are maddened at the parting." An amok 
did not occur on this occasion ; Oamut was borne 
off; and he landed safely in Ceylon, was drilled and 
stiffened into the shape of a British soldier. He 
was also sent to school, but could never learn the 
difference between a and b ; he however progressed 
so far in English as to speak it, parrot-like ; but 
what he said was better understood by himself than 
by his white friends. 

While in Ceylon he assisted in the reduction of 
the hill tribes ; and on one occasion stuck by his 
wounded captain for three days. He concealed him 
in the jungle, and bore him out in safety. This 
gave Oamut a step ; but he was bodo (unlearned), so 
could not be made a sergeant. He served for 
twenty-seven years, after which he yearned to return 
to his native land. He got his discharge without 
pension (the reason of this I could never satisfac- 
torily learn). So he returned penniless to Bulo 
Binang to find father and mother, sisters and 
brothers, gone ! The very posts of his father's 
house had rotted away. 

h 2 



100 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Under these circumstances, he entered the police 
service, was engaged in taking a noted pirate called 
Che Mat, whom he captured in the very midst of his 
lurking-place, which was once pointed out to me at 
Sungei Sedkup. The bravery of the act gained 
Gamut a pauguluship (constableship), and great 
became his influence with the East India Company's 
official then in charge of the province (Wellesley). 
Nor was Gamut lax in his endeavours to please his 
new white master (the above official), for he hesitated 
not, with his assistants (though in public pay), to 
work at the East India Company's official's private 
country houses and gardens, and thus to improve 
that individual's properties. " What did it signify 
if his master were pleased, though the whole Malay 
world were dissatisfied ?" "But," continued Gamut, 
" it was not the police alone that had to do work for 
the government official. Bands of convicts from 
India were pressed into the service to make roads, 
and to work amongst his various and distant planta- 
tions." 

But notwithstanding Oamut's alacrity, an evil 
hour was in store for him. He had married his 
daughter to the nephew of the official's nonia (native 
mistress). This nephew gave unpardonable offence 
in a family squabble. Gamut's * son-in-law was 
ejected from the back-room circle with ignominy. 
This offended Gamut's dignity, and he threw up his 
appointment in the Honourable East India Com- 
pany's police service, and tendered himself to Tuanku 



OAMUT. 



101 



Mahomed Saad, then about to make his abortive 
attempt to drive the Siamese out of Keddah. 

In his new employment, Oamnt drilled the in- 
surgents, and afterwards followed the expedition 
against Sang ova, which was taken by the Malays. 
Here, he related, the Malay prisoners accused 
the Siamese of the most horrible cruelties. They 
would rip up the pregnant women for the mere sake 
of a bet as to whether the child was a male or a 
female ; they would crush the Malay prisoners 
under the feet of elephants, till they were as thin as 
pancakes ; they would impale others on the pucho 
nipah (the sprout of the nipah palm), which has a 
point as sharp as a spear, and which grows about 
six inches every day. (This death is called mati de 
sulo, or death by impalement, the deepest oath 
uttered by the Malay.) Thus the victim would live 
till the sprout had grown through his stomach and 
he would die in the greatest and most protracted 
misery. Such dreadful accusations were related 
with a warmth that evidenced a belief on the part 
of the listener ; but I often hoped that they were 
the mere suggestions of over hatred — a proof of how 
the oriental can hate. I fear, however, the practice 
was too well known to all native governments. 
Certain it is that if the Siamese were guilty — or 
even thought guilty — of such abominations, the 
Malays would not be slow in taking a full revenge 
in kind. I shudder for the victims on either side. 
Sherrard Osborne has borne witness to the cruel 



102 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



butchery of the Siamese prisoners by Tuanku Ma- 
homed Saad, prior to his flight from Keddah. 
Gamut went on to relate that, with success, the 
Malay chieftain became arrogant and exacting; he 
krised the suspected and flogged the dilatory 
amongst his army. This did not suit Oamut's taste, 
so he took the first opportunity to take his conge, 
and returned, with many other fugitives, to the 
secure refuge of the British settlement. When he 
crossed the border, he was half -naked, half-starved, 
worn out, and dejected. In this condition he sought 
his daughter's house, where he found a tender 
asylum. 

Having offended the East India Company's chief 
official, he held himself in cover till he sought the 
powerful protection of an independent member of 
the European community, who, knowing Oamut's 
antecedents, extended a helping hand " to raise 
him," as he used to say, " from the dust." 

I have mentioned that he never parted with his 
kris, this was partly from fear of assassination, partly 
from pride. The Malays in British territory are 
disarmed ; but, under the wing of his European 
friend, Gamut was not interfered with by the native 
police. The law was weak here. He used to say 
that as a police officer he had to bring many a man 
to justice, of whom some were hanged and others 
were transported to Bombay. The friends of those 
were but too eager for revenge ; and was he to allow 
himself to be krised, without the means of defending 



OAMUT. 



103 



himself? Further, he had so offended the Nonia of 
the East India Company's chief official that hundreds 
at her bidding would be willing to make a quiet end 
of him. Thus he always walked in fear of treachery, 
for he was aware of the habits of his countrymen. He 
said, <£ The government of the English is odil (just), 
their judges will neither take bribes nor flattery ; but 
here it is only an English government in name. The 
nonia is the real rajah (ruler). All the lawsuits 
are carried on in the back rooms of the East India 
Company's official's house ; and the man that can 
make the nonia the largest present is sure to gain 
his cause when it comes to be tried. Before court 
days," he continued, "I have seen dozens of Chinese 
and twenties of Klings carrying up ducks and fowls 
fruit and dollars as presents to the nonia, so what 
justice can there be when this is allowed ? All the 
anyia and fetina (oppression and defamation) that 
takes place, come from these back rooms ; for there 
the nonia can have her say when no one else can. 

" Look at this," he would continue, " and you 
will easily understand how oppression and defama- 
tion are so rife. The nonia's brothers, brothers-in- 
law, and cousins occupy the high offices of govern- 
ment. They sit at every corner of the hall of justice, 
of the police offices, and of the land departments. A 
word cannot be uttered but it is detailed to the nonia. 
And how are her relations paid for their services ? 
It is not the Company's wages of five or ten dollars 
a month that keeps up their gigs, horses, pleasure 



104 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



gardens, and women, — but it is the bribes taken and 
the unjust actions committed. The paddy (rice) 
field of the ryot is seized for back rents, and sold for 
bagatelles to these sycophants, for no one dare bid 
against them. Look at the finest lands in Penaga ! 
don't they belong to the nonia's brother, and how was 
Meralibby cast out from house and estate and turned 
out to poverty and wretchedness, his sons to the 
slave market and his daughters to the brothels ? It 
was by such actions as these." 

Here Oamut had got his whole heart out, and ex- 
hausted his energy — so he would ask leave to retire 
for the day. 

I relate this man's story— first, because I know it to 
be true, and, secondly, to give the lie to those writers 
on India who ascribe the early influence of the 
Company's officers to their illicit connections with 
native women. These connections may have lowered 
them to the level of a degenerate people, and enabled 
them to mix themselves up in all their petty and 
unworthy intrigues — but these connections, ivhen made 
by men in power, not only depraved the holder of 
office in the eyes of the natives ; but, as was the case in 
the above instance, were the cause of much injustice and 
oppression. 

That the above official should have employed the 
police and convicts in working on his own properties 
and plantations, was at that time akin to the system, 
that prevailed a quarter of a century previously. All 
Members of Council were allowed at the public ex- 



OAMUT. 105 

■ 

pense 300 convicts for their private use, and such 
private European inhabitants as had interest with 
the Government were also allowed convicts for their 
private use. These " good old times" have passed 
away, and not too soon. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

OPPRESSIONS. 

One fine morning I was ready mounted on one of 
the elephants, with Gamut by my side. I intended 
to have a look at the interior, so I carried him with 
me to inform me of the various localities and topics 
of local interest. We first kept along the shore for 
several miles till the road turned in at Tulloh 
Ramis for Sungei Puyoli and Bagan Lalang, at which 
latter place the Prye river was crossed. As we 
wended along the beach, I observed two rows of 
young cocoa nuts in front of the old tall groves 
of the villages. I asked Gamut what this meant ? 

" Why," said he, " tuan, these two rows belong 
to the East India Company's chief official, and those 
behind to the Malays ; and this is the state of the 
case, for, for four miles along, the sea frontage belongs 
to the East India Company's chief official, and behintl 
that is sometimes his own land, sometimes the land 
of natives." 

" But," inquired I, " were these numerous vil- 
lagers not in possession of the sea frontage before 



OPPKESSIONS. 



107 



the East India Company's chief official came to this 
country at all, for I see the villagers' trees are old 
ones r 

"Oh, yes," said Oamut, "but he took the front- 
age from them, and appropriated it to himself, and 
this was done for two reasons ; first, because cocoa 
nuts thrive best on the sea-shore, as you may easily 
perceive ; and, secondly, he wanted to protect his 
private ferries." 

" What ferries, Oamut ?" said I. 

" The ferries of Tulloh Bamis," said Oamut ; 
" don't you know, sir, that no person is allowed to 
land all along this beach, unless he comes in the 
East India Company's chief official's private ferry- 
boats ? If they did land they would be pounced on 
by the police, and put into chokee (jail)." 

" Monstrous !" said L " This cannot be the case 
in British territory ?" 

" Monstrous or not," said Oamut, "it is the case. 
The fare is four cents to go across to the Tanjong 
(Greorge Town), and the East India Company's 
official takes half of that to his private use. It is 
hard on the servants of Allah (Grod) but apa bulih 
boat (what can be done) ? The 60,000 inhabitants 
of the province must submit, for the power of the 
white man is great." 

" But," Oamut continued, " the money loss is 
not the greatest, the loss of lives has been great, for 
during the musim barat (west monsoon), the waves 
are high here, and the landing is safer at Bagan 



108 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Jermal. The people submit quietly ; but they mur- 
mur deeply." 

This struck me as a new phase in a mercantile 
company's government of a country. I was filled 
with not a little indignation as I turned from the 
monopolised shore and proceeded inland, till we 
came to the ferry at Bag an Lalang. Here was a 
police-station, a police-officer, and a ferry boat. 

" Is this a public ferry," said I, to Gamut. 

" No," said he, " it belongs to the East India 
Company's chief official, whose land commands the 
river and road. His land is taken so as to extend 
over the sand ridge into either swamp, so no traffic 
can take place without going over his ground. So 
the charge is not for crossing the river, but for 
going through the East India Company's official's 
private property. You will see that this police- 
officer will demand two cents from each of us, and 
twelve cents for the elephant, for going across the 
land, and then he will be so obliging as to put us 
across the river for nothing." 

" And who pays the policeman for his service ?" 
said I, laughing. 

" Oh," said Gamut, " the public treasury does 
that/' 

" Then I am to understand that the treasury pays 
the policeman to collect the tolls of a private ferry ?" 

" Yes, just so," said Gamut, " and you will now 
have to pay yourself by way of proof, before you 
can reach the other side.'" 



OPPRESSIONS. 



109 



Oamut's information proved to be correct. In 
justice to the native policeman, I must state that 
he was polite in the extreme, he regretted that it 
was his misfortune to charge a white gentleman for 
crossing so small a bit of ground, but he would be 
delighted to put me across the river for nothing. 

" Apa bulih boat,'" said he, " it is the East India 
Company's official's orders." 

Having paid the impost, and crossed safely, we 
proceeded till we came to two cross roads, near two 
pretty hills covered with the most beautiful nutmeg 
plantations. These hills were situated in the centre 
of a vast plain waving with golden rice crops. Here 
our attention was arrested by a man sitting by the 
way, and uttering loud lamentations. The nearer 
we approached him, the louder his lamentations 
grew. 

"Why this grief?" I asked Oam ut. 

" Let us stop, and then you can ask Che Kota 
yourself," said he. " He will tell you all about it." 
So I descended and asked what ailed him. 

" Oh," said Che Kota, " a white man asks the 
cause of my misery? Who should know better 
than the white man. All my misfortunes have come 
upon me through the anyia (oppression) of the 
white ruler of this country. That little hill, that 
beautiful little hill, like to an island in the sea ; 
that hill called JBukit Polandoh (moose-deer hill), 
was once mine." 

<c Whose is it now ?" inquired I. 



110 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



" Ayah, the East India Company's chief official 
has taken it, he has cut down my seree gardens, he 
has drained my paddy fields, he has cleared and 
felled my durian, mangostan, mangoe, and champada 
trees. All, all are gone. Now the bare earth 
remains, which he has planted with his own nutmeg 
trees. I am undone. The spirit has gone from 
me. I am like the lonely stork sitting in the midst 
of a pyali propoh (reedy swamp) ; no one to cheer 
me, no one to look kindly on me. The large durian 
with its hundred branches loaded with fruit no 
longer gugor (fall), so that my children may eat 
and be merry. All is swept away, my flesh is 
wasted, and my bones are rotten." 

Here his lamentation vied in sublimity with the 
Psalmist, where he cries* " My days are consumed 
like smoke, and my bones are burned as a hearth , 
My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that 
I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice 
of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. I am 
like a pelican of the wilderness, I am like an owl of 
the desert, I watch and am as a sparrow on the 
house top. I have eaten ashes like bread, and 
mingled my drink with weeping." 

" My wife is gone, and my children are the 
slaves of the stranger." 

Here he was overpowered with emotion, and tears 
fell fast. I gave him some money, and tried to con- 
sole him as well as I could ; but now a large crowd 

* See Psalm cii. 



OPPRESSIONS. 



Ill 



had gathered and stood around. Their complaints 
were much to the same purpose as Che Kota's, and 
were to this effect, that the other hill, which is the 
larger of the two, and is called Bakit Merah (red 
hill), was once covered with fruit groves the pro- 
perty of the native inhabitants. These had now 
been cut down and appropriated to the private use 
of the East India Company's chief official, who had 
it planted out with nutmeg trees. 

One of these natives appeared a peculiar object 
of charity ; he was an old man upwards of eighty 
years of age. His name has escaped my memory. 
But I well recollect another native, called Ja- 
hiah, a tall, powerful man ; he stepped forward 
from amongst the crowd and asked the favour 
if I would only go with him and see how his 
paddy fields had been wrested from him, and how 
only a small remnant remained to him. I did 
not refuse, so I left the elephant and walked 
with Jahiah one or two miles along an embank- 
ment. This embankment was now the boundary 
of the East India Company's official, and it was 
seen to run through the middle of the Malay in- 
habitant's fields. Jahiah carried me across the 
boggy parts of the wood, as he would carry a child. 
I viewed his little remnant, which had a small 
cottage on it, surrounded by a few plantain trees. 
On his small remnant he had to support a wife and 
children. I burned with shame when I saw the 
larger portion that had been taken from him ; for 



112 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



this lie had cleared with his own hands, labouring 
under a burning sun. He showed me the land 
order to clear the piece, given by the same East 
India Company's official that wrested the land after 
his labour had made it valuable. Here was a strong 
brave man to make an enemy of, by subjecting him 
to gross injury. I could not but recur to Oamut's 
remark that the murmurs were deep; I thought also 
they might be dangerous. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

DESPOTIC OFFICIALISM. 

Strange ride this morning ; the tales in Mill's His- 
tory of British India were having practical elucida- 
tion, the surmises of the simple country folks at 
home were being realized, when they surveyed the 
ill-gotten wealth of the yellow, sleepless, snappish 
nabobs that from time to time sat down in old 
haunted rural mansions to linger and die. I felt 
I was now actually poaching on forbidden pre- 
serves, — for these regions were forbidden to Eng- 
lishmen till the year 1833, and I had stumbled 
unawares on the very heart of a monstrous, loath- 
some despotism. 

This was a wholesale way of getting rich, — first 
the valuable sea frontage is pounced upon ; second 
the sea highway between one British settlement 
and another, containing 40,000 and 60,000 inhabi- 
tants, is monopolised for the private benefit of an 
East India Company's official; third, the river 
dividing the province is closed to the public and 
monopolized in the same manner ; and, lastly, the 

i 



114 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



crowning information of this morning's ride, the 
inhabitants are driven wholesale from their patri- 
monies ! I now write down what I saw with my 
own eyes and heard with my own ears. It is jnst 
possible the Malays might have been the victims 
of legal quibbles, but the hard, stubborn facts 
remained the same, — they were ousted from their 
houses and lands. A government court of inquiry 
would have settled these points ; or a court of 
justice would have rejected or vindicated the claims 
of the Malays. As far as I am aware, no inves- 
tigation ever took place ! The Malays, at my 
suggestion, did go over to lay their complaints 
before Sir George Bonham ; but I fear they never 
obtained redress. The belted peons around his 
office would never have allowed a number of ragged 
Malays to approach his august presence. They 
also proceeded to the Court of Judicature, but 
failed here also ; they could not pay for an advo- 
cate, and were not allowed to plead in forma 
pauperis. 

Such doings would be impossible in Great Britain, 
here they were more than probable. Nay, the native 
rajahs of Malayan states daily and hourly commit 
such acts on their people. Then, here was an East 
India Company's official in the position of a Malayan 
rajah unchecked and uncontrolled, — how could he, 
a European gentleman, be capable of such transac- 
tions ? Simply in this way. He no doubt had 
the feelings of a white man forty years previously ; 



DESPOTIC OFFICIALISM. 



115 



but he was weak-minded, and had, for thirty years, 
been held under native influences. Having succumbed 
to such trammels, he had become an Anglo-Hindoo 
rajah, and had so conformed to the ideas of that class, 
that he imbibed their prejudices, and indulged in 
their oppressiveness and venality. 



i 2 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

CHE KOTA. 

Che Kota signifies " him of tlie fort," and whether 
Che Kota's had been that same fort that is to be 
seen marked in Lieutenant Woare's chart of Pe- 
nang, I do not know. At all events a fort or 
stockade is shown to have crowned the summit of 
Bukit Palandah in the year 1832. By referring 
to Moor's Notices of the Indian Archipelago — a 
work that I have not seen for many years — 
there will be found a map of Province Wellesley 
by Fletcher, a government surveyor. In that 
map the boundary of Province Wellesley is clearly 
depicted. That boundary shows the extent of 
land bought from the Bajah of Keddah, but 
which scarcely takes in Permatang Pau. Both 
Bukit Palandah and Bukit Merah, were, at that 
time, in Malayan territory. It was not till the 
6th of April, 1832, that the boundary was ex- 
tended so as to include those two hills. This 
was done after the insurrection of Tuanku Kudin, 
by which time the East India Company had ac- 



CHE KOTA. 



117 



knowledged the supremacy of Siam over Keddah, 
so that it was by Siam's consent that the boundary 
was extended. So much is necessary to be related 
before dealing with Che Kota's claim, and that of 
others similarly situated. 

Colonel Law's History of the British Colonies in 
the Straits has a short sentence connected with this 
subject. It is to this effect : A large portion of 
the central district (of Province Wellesley), viz., 
Prye, was excited to rebellion, and a party of police 
proceeding on general duty under a small escort, 
were treacherously waylaid, and a constable, three 
sepoys, and some peons were murdered. This cir- 
cumstance happened in August 1830, while the land 
was Malayan, and two years prior to its being ceded 
to the East India Company by Siam, the conqueror of 
Keddah. Then what were these native servants of 
the East India Company doing over the border, for 
we were neither at war with Keddah nor with Siam. 
Che Kota and my Malay informants said " that they 
were executing warrants for refusal to pay taxes to 
the East India Company's official." They owed no 
allegiance to the British crown, they did not reside 
in British territory, therefore they refused to pay 
taxes, and resisted when the military were sent out 
to coerce. Che Kota himself was absent from the 
fray, but his brother was in it — so that was enough. 
The Company's native servants had been resisted 
and shot, so all must fly from vengeance that would 
too surely overtake the villagers indiscriminately. 



118 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Some ran to Perok, some to Patani, and the nourish- 
ing fruit groves, the fertile rice-fields were deserted. 

In the meantime, the frontier of the British is 
pushed beyond the deserted homes of these Malays 
by the sanction of the Siamese. The insurrection 
of Tuanku Kudin is put down, and peace and secu- 
rity reign again. The East India Company's chief 
official has long coveted these two hills, and now is 
his opportunity, he asks for a grant of them and the 
adjacent lands from the governor of the Straits 
settlements. This was willingly acceded to by that 
high functionary, under the impression that the 
lands were waste, without rice-fields or fruit gardens 
on them. The hills are taken possession of accord- 
ingly, the fruit groves are cut down and destroyed, 
and nutmeg gardens planted in their stead. 

Now Che Kota and others, knowing themselves 
to be innocent of blood, return only to see their 
homes and estates in other's hands, and not a vestige 
of their patrimonies remaining to them. A melan- 
choly return from exile, this ! The same official 
that drove them out, had now legal possession of these 
estates under the great seal of the State, Such is a 
plain statement of Che Kota's grievance. 

That of Jahiah and others had a different aspect. 
He and others fled from Keddah, and sought an 
asylum within British territory from the conquering 
Siamese cruelties. They proceeded to the East India 
Company's chief official's office, and obtained a surat 
tubas tabang (occupation certificate) for lands near 



CHE KOTA. 



119 



Bukit Nurah. The land was under high forest, so it 
was cleared with great personal labour. The above 
certificate, by law, entitled the holder to a grant, on 
the ground being put under cultivation. Thus, 
under the authority of the East India Company's 
official, they occupied the soil, cleared it, planted it, 
built houses on it, with the hope of enjoying the 
fruits of their labour in company with their wives 
and little ones. Thus the whole surrounding lands 
were cleared from forest under the daily inspection 
of the same East India Company's chief official. He 
never hinted to a single occupant, that he held a 
grant over all their homes, till the forest had been 
cut down, and the lands made into rice-fields, and 
thus rendered valuable. Then suddenly, he sent 
a surveyor to mark out his square block, which done, 
a posse of convicts were set on to build a great em- 
bankment round the whole. Thus the Malay set- 
tlers found themselves suddenly bereft of their all in 
this world. And I happened to stumble on them 
in the midst of their consternation. 

A sudden tremor seems to have affected the whole 
population — they held up their certificates of occu- 
pation to the East India Company's official, while he 
pointed out to them his superior title by grant from 
the governor. They soon saw it was of no avail to 
dispute with the holder of despotic power against 
his own personal interests. They knew nothing of 
constitutional resistance, such as may be seen in 
European countries ; the only resistance they could 



120 LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 

think of was by arms. But that latter resistance 
involved terrible results, the gallows of the English, 
or the sword of the Siamese. They bore their 
grievances, therefore, in silent sorrow — for justice 
was never rendered them. 

By the Honourable East India Company, the 
author of their sorrow was honoured, advanced, and 
pensioned — but what did this avail him? The 
curse of a higher power fell on him. His home was 
blighted even more awfully than was Che Koto's, and 
his estates passed into the hands of strangers. 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

DISCLOSURES AND REFLECTIONS. 

Being delayed by crowds of natives, we did not 
arrive at Permatang Passeir before dark, and here 
Oamut and I lodged with his son-in-law, — a young 
handsome Malay. We were up by daylight next 
morning, and walked to a place called Kota, the 
residence of a Malay chief, situated just beyond the 
boundary of British territory. Here I called on 
Tuanku Abdulla ; and, after some slight conversa- 
tion, retired to view the village, or rather hamlet. 
Kota always had a bad reputation ; for here all the 
notorious characters congregated on a commanding 
centre. Prom hence they could issue and commit 
depredations on the well- cultivated plains of Pro- 
vince Wellesley ; there they could safely dispose of 
their ill-gotten goods, and spend the proceeds in 
gambling, cock-fighting, and opium-smoking. Here 
I met many of the Province Wellesley Malays well 
known to me, indulging in a spell of dissipation at 
the three favourite pastimes of the Malays. Oamut 



122 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



remarked that here they are like buffaloes wasting 
their substance on those pigs of Chinamen, who im- 
pose upon their weaknesses. I have known Malays 
to be so fond of gambling that they would gamble 
away their clothes, children, and at last their 
wives, till they had nothing but their skin to cover 
them. We left this den of iniquity, and, said 
Oamut, quietly, " Keep your pistol cocked and 
ready, tuan, when you see me uncover my kris, as 
we pass through the btukar (scrub), for many a man 
have I known to be set upon here for far less than 
we are supposed to carry upon us." We passed 
over the boundary, however, all safe ; and, after a 
breakfast of rice, curried fowl, and plantain, we 
mounted the elephant and set out on our journey to 
Bukit Moratajam. 

On leaving Permatang Passeir, we had to pass 
over a long swamp filled with dead trees — so we 
had an opportunity of watching the cautious saga- 
city of our noble animal. At soft parts, he would 
break off a branch of a tree, and lay it forward 
with his trunk, press on it well with his fore feet, 
before moving his hinder legs. At other parts, he 
would push over a tree in the direction he was 
going, and thus make a bridge for himself to pass 
along. This was tedious, though interesting work ; 
and I was glad when we arrived on terra firma. 
Oamut said, " The elephant represents wisdom, the 
buffalo honesty, the tiger ferocity, the snake stealth, 
the alligator voraciousness : in man all these attri- 



DISCLOSURES AND REFLECTIONS. 123 

butes are combined, so he is more feared than them 
all put together." 

We soon rose over the plain, and found ourselves 
on the top of a hill called Bukit Indramuda, covered 
with clove trees and plantain gardens, the property 
of some enterprising Chinese settlers. Here we 
could scan the whole province from the Krean to 
the Muda. Selecting remarkable spots, I asked 
Oamut whose they were. " That," said he, et is 
Aurgading, a nutmeg estate of the East India Com- 
pany's chief official ; and that is the ferry station 
of Aurgading, the private property of the same 
official ; and that is Bukit Jelutong, the coffee 
plantation of the same official ; and that is Tulloh 
Bamis, the cocoa-nut estate of the same official — it 
extends from Bagan Luar to Tulloh Ayer Tawar, 
near six or seven miles ; and that in the distance 
is Kota Aur, another private ferry of the same 
official — it commands the great northern road, b}^ 
which all the population must pass ; and that 
pretty hill to the south is Bukit Tamboon, another 
nutmeg estate of the same official ; and that low 
hill is Tasseh an intended sugar plantation of the 
same official." 

" Why," said I, " Oamut, stop ! Your official 
has everything, and nobody anything. Who can have 
any interest in supporting the State ?" 

We proceeded on slowly, and I found myself moral- 
izing. Is this a type of the government of the 
East India Company ? It cannot be. But granted 



124 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



that it is, then their justice must be like unto a 
Dutch nutmeg — when monopolized, one shilling per 
pound, when free, one farthing per pound, and then 
easily obtainable. But then there is this difference, 
a nutmeg is a luxury — justice a necessity. But 
whence the parallel ? Here it is. An East India 
Company's governor at 5000?. per annum, not to 
be approached ; a resident councillor at 2400/. 
per annum, not to be seen ; a judge at 4500/. 
per annum, not to be reached. Truly this East 
India Company's service is the finest in the world 
for those who are in it. But what are the 
people the better for all this, when justice is so 
precious ? 

Gamut nudged me on the side and said, " Here 
is Kubong Simang — a dismal swamp that we must 
pass through." We descended at a Malay hut, and 
found an old man, his wife and three children, in an 
extreme state of poverty. They subsisted on a 
small garden of plantains, whose fruit they sold to 
passers by. The man was afflicted with elephanti- 
asis in both legs, and great ulcers broke out over 
each instep. Oh, horrible ! I shuddered. He 
could barely walk, yet the calm, placid countenance 
of that man was a bright lesson in the virtue of 
resignation. 

" Oamut," I asked, "how does this man live ?" 
Said he, "His wife keeps him." 
" How ?" 

" She chunkals (digs) the ground, and plants the 



DISCLOSURES AND REFLECTIONS. 125 



garden. She is rajin (smart), pandei menchari 
makan (clever at seeking a living). She makes 
enough to feed and clothe her husband and chil- 
dren." 

" How can that be ?" said I. 

" Oh," said he, " she will get 300 bunches in the 
year from her garden, and that will bring them 
fifteen ringits (fifteen dollars), which is chukup 
makan (enough to live upon)." 

" How do you make that out ?" said I. 

" Well," said he, " four sarongs will clothe him 
and her — the children require none — that makes 
four dollars ; then two chupas a day of rice are three 
doits a day, or eleven dollars a year, which makes 
up the fifteen dollars a year. Now, what with the 
little fish they catch in the ditches and roadside 
puddles, they can keep body and soul together, and 
that's all the servants of God should ask for." 

This was a new system of philosophy, certainly 
not imported from the west. 

We crossed the swamp, which was named after 
the aborigines (for the Malays are interlopers like 
the English), it being the place where they as- 
sembled at certain seasons to feast on the Tampui 
fruit, to drink its effervescing juices, and to get 
drunk to their heart's content ; but this was only 
once a year. 

As we proceeded along at a slow pace, I began 
again to reflect. This East India Company's 
official —what was he that he should hold despotic 



126 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



sway over 60,000 human beings ? He is part of 
a general system ; and, in his own country, no 
doubt was morally and intellectually reared. What 
has changed his nature from the healthy, fair-play- 
loving Briton to the bloated tyrant ? Native connec- 
tions of a low and illicit kind. Why so ? Because 
he has been flattered for thirty years, and flattery 
insidiously impairs the mind; and the climate, 
impairing the energy, has made flattery the more 
destructive. Flattery and climate destroy the original 
independence of the European. He is now under the 
trammels of his native connections ; they are hated 
with a gnawing hate, and live under the fear of 
treachery. They suggest oppression on their marked 
enemies to discomfit them ; and, by flattering his 
vanity, and pandering to his avarice, he falls a 
victim to their wily toils, and the British official 
becomes a tyrant I Oh, how unfit a representative of 
England's manly Christianity ! how unlike the 
noble disinterestedness of England's most noble 
statesmen ! In this case how much did not this 
state of affairs tend to lower the European in the 
native estimation, to destroy his high prestige, and 
to ultimately annihilate his power ! 

Oamut again nudged me, and awoke me to 
reality, for the pepper gardens of Bukit Moratajam 
were now in view. We proceeded to view them. 
He had many acquaintances amongst the Chinese 
here, and we stopped at the head man's house at 
mid-day. Here we were hospitably regaled with 



DISCLOSURES AND REFLECTIONS. 



127 



rice, salt fish, tea, and sweetmeats ;. after which we 
took an early departure, being anxious to return to 
Kubong Boyah that evening. Leaving the elephant 
at Permatang Passeir, we pushed through a foot- 
track, then being cut through the mangrove jungle 
from a place called Bagan Srye. Thus we returned 
to the bungalow after dark. 

Before parting with Gamut that night, I asked 
him how long Province Wellesley belonged to the 
British ? 

He said, " Upwards of a quarter of a century." 
" And how was the population governed during 
that time ?" 

" By a single white official, assisted by one or two 
Indo-Portuguese clerks." 
" Who was the ruler ?*' 
" The nonia." 

" Yes, true ; but who was magistrate ?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was coroner ?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was surveyor-general?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was tax collector ?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was commander of the troops ?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was superintendent of roads ?" 

" The East India Company's official." 

" Who was register of land claims ?" 



128 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



"The East India Company's official." 

" Well, I see, Oamut, that the East India Com- 
pany's official, to do justice to his charge, would 
require to be a demigod. How many schools are 
there in the province ?" 

" None." 

" Then the East India Company's official is not 
schoolmaster amongst the numerous offices ?" 

" No ; the more ignorant the people are kept, the 
less trouble he thinks he will have in keeping them quiet" 

" Have you seen any Europeans besides myself in 
this province ?" 

" Very seldom, indeed. The East India Com- 
pany's official wrote to the Governor recommending 
that none should be allowed ingress." 

" Has the Governor ever inspected this province ?" 

" Never, to my knowledge." 

" Do appeals ever go to higher courts ?" 

"Very seldom, except in cases of murder. The 
people are afraid to question the East India Com- 
pany's official's judgment, lest the nonia's creatures 
might be set upon them." 

Happy illustration this of the benevolent and 
patriarchal government of the Honourable Company 
of Merchant Adventurers trading to the East ! 



CHAPTEE XXV. 



A WATER EXCURSION. 

We made a very early start one morning for a 
water excursion on the Prye River. The early 
dawn was scarcely to be distinguished in the East. 
Venus shone with splendour, and the Great Bear 
stretched its long body over the northern hemi- 
sphere. The Singapore sampan floated in the calm 
waters, not even a ripple broke against the sandy 
shore. The tall casuarina trees cast their shadows 
downwards in the water. It had been a calm, still 
night. The cool land breeze was scarcely to be 
detected against the wetted linger. Here lay the 
sampan, a model of marine architecture, a patent 
proof that the wave line was long known to the 
Malays before Scott Eussell had ever been dreamt 
of — broadest at one-third distance from ' the stern, 
and gradually narrowing to the sharp graceful 
bow. Eive Malays already sat in the boat at the 
oars and steering paddle. We loitered a little to 
admire the model, as far as the coming light would 
enable us. 

K 



130 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST, 



At length Oaraut came with the gun and the 
kris, and we stepped on board and sat down on 
comfortable Siamese cushions ready laid for us. 
We skirt along the sandy shore, and cross the flats 
of Bagun Luar. Here Oamut cries, " See that 
boy ah (alligator)." I looked, but could not discern 
anything. " There he is ; what a big boyah !" I 
was yet at fault. " Don't you see his eyes sticking 
above the water, and two or three knobs of his 
back ?" said Oamat. Now I could make these things 
out, if they belonged to an alligator ; but I doubted if 
these little black spots could be a living thing. We 
pull up to it. It makes a splash and a dive— 
a hideous thing, at least twelve or thirteen feet long. 
Forties and fifties of natives were wading breast 
deep over this same flat pushing their prawn nets, 
unscared by the horrid reptile. This apathy or 
resignation on their part is unaccountable to the 
life-loving, life -enjoying European. Their lives too 
often fall a sacrifice while engaged in this employ- 
ment ; but prawns must be had for curries and 
balachong — two indispensables in far-eastern cuisines. 

We now enter into the broad bosom of the Prye, 
skirted by mangrove jungle on either side. The 
sun now peeps over the horizon, and we pull under 
the shaded side, and disturb a large herd of juletongs 
(large monkeys) ; these cry, shake the branches, grin 
and leap from tree to tree, making gestures which 
parody humanity. I lift my gun, the Malays look 
annoyed. I fire, and down comes a great male, 



A WATER EXCURSION. 



131 



making such piteous cries as a child would utter. 
Oamut said, " Don't shoot any more, sir ; it is 
against the adat (custom) of the Malays to kill a 
monkey." 

To this the steersman added, cc More than that, 
sir, it is a doso (sin) to kill one's own kindred • for 
is not the monkey descended from our own dato 
nene (ancestors), the great chief of whom was Han- 
doman, a dewa (demigod) of great prowess. He 
will bring chelaka (misfortune) on us, if you shoot 
any more." 

I had as little heart to kill another monkey as 
any of the Malays. I have no doubt the same im- 
pulses supported their superstition and my pity. 
The act was too like murder, and I had qualms of 
conscience many days afterwards. 

We glide on. We pass numerous alligators lying 
in the mud basking in the now rising sun. Some 
have their mouths wide open, as Oamut explains, 
for the purpose of catching flies, which settle on the 
tongue, and are imprisoned by a sudden collapse of 
the jaws. We enter a narrow creek, called Sungei 
Susat. Here we meet a boat load of Malays, one of 
whom had a shocking aspect. His skin was spotted 
with white leprosy. One half of his face and body 
was livid white, the other dark brown. I shuddered 
at his affliction. We pass, and the creek narrows. 
Wonderful little crabs are now seen to run over the 
sides and banks — scarlet, blue, green, and yellow. 
What beautiful little fellows ! And they bear a 

k 2 



132 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



huge claw over their backs, as good as any two. 
As we approach, they dive into innumerable holes 
in the mud and disappear. We at length, with the 
rising tide, get up to the village situated on the 
edge of the mangrove, and bordering an immense 
level plain of waving corn. We secure our boat, 
and partake of breakfast. 

The superstition of the Malays regarding Hando- 
man (Hanuman of Hindoo mythology), who is 
represented in the form of a monkey, would indicate 
that the Keddah Malays are yet only partially 
Mussulmans. Still when we see our modern English 
believing in spirit-rapping and clairvoyance, is it 
fair to say that such are only partially Christianized? 
Superstition, which is a curse to the uncivilized, as it 
enthrals his mind, subdues his understanding, fetters 
his enterprise, and bears him down to the dust, even 
still asserts its sway over those calling themselves 
the most enlightened of mankind. 

After breakfast, we walked out to survey the busy 
scene. Here were thousands of men. women, and 
children, busy securing their golden crops. In 
these rural scenes it was observed that the gentler 
sex were at full freedom to exhibit their counte- 
nances, there being no veils to hide a pretty face, 
no indications of a husband's unamiable jealousy. 
The paddy was being cut with the rungum, already 
mentioned, and the rice was being beaten out by 
the buffalo, as described in Scripture. The lands 
here are rich, carrying heavy crops (six conchas to 



A WATER EXCURSION. 



133 



the orlong). They yielded a rent of half the crop 
in kind, which would amount to 21. or 3L sterling 
per acre. Yet so unsettled were these times, that 
land could be bought for from two to five years' 
purchase. 

The varieties of rice are numerous, and well known 
to the agricultural Malay. The rice of Keddah is 
highly esteemed for its whiteness and flavour. The 
poolvat makes a capital pillau, which an eastern cook 
is cunning in making marvellously palatable. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

ANOTHER RAID, - 

Accompanied by Oamut and a Malay crew, we 
started at 3 p.m. one day for the Jurvo Eiver. The 
tide was high, and the sea breeze was blowing a 
light gale. We hoisted our mat sail and skirted 
first the white beach, then the mangrove jungle. 
When off Sungei Seakup, Oamut pointed out the 
place where he had captured the infamous Che Mat, 
a pirate who used to pounce upon, rob, and murder 
the Chinese sugar boatmen, plying between Batu 
Kawan and Penan g. The sea leaped joyously 
against the mangrove bushes, sparkling the waving 
leaves with delight. Our spirits were buoyant 
with the fine run, as we sped close along the 
bushy shore. As mangrove grows in several feet 
of water on its strange branching strutted roots, it 
looks like a partially submerged forest of a bright 
green colour; and, at high water, particularly, the 
sight is pleasing, but at low water the muddy flats 
in which it grows render its proximity then not at 
all inviting. 



ANOTHER RAID. 



135 



It was dark before we made the J urvo ; and, as 
we approached, I was struck with the tinkling bell- 
like noise of myriads of trumpeting insects in the 
jungle, now busy raising their loudest notes. The 
effect was rendered the more charming by the alter- 
nate rise and fall of the sounds caused by the gentle 
surf on the shore. We ran in and sought accom- 
modation at a native police-station, where we slept 
— or rather lay — for the night, as the innumerable 
mosquitoes tormented us almost to madness. 

We were astir early in the morning ; and, after a 
cup of tea, we started to have a look at the country. 
We first had to go through some thick tall forest, 
when I shot a bird called the tookang. It carries a 
remarkably large bill ; and, when flying, imitates 
the sound of a person sawing wood. We had not 
proceeded far before I started back at the sight of a 
recent print of a large tiger's foot. This was my 
first acquaintance with the footprint of a tiger, so I 
felt nervous ; but, in after years, the occurrence was 
so common to me as to pass unnoticed. 

The Malays said : " Never mind, tuan, that one 
is a dato ; it will not harm you." 

" How so ?" said I. 

" It is one of our ancestors, so will not meddle 
with mankind." 

Strange idea, thought I, a remnant of the 
Hindoo belief in metempsychosis. 

We proceeded, and arrived at a village planted in 
the midst of tall ancient palm and fruit trees. Here 



136 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



was an old man sitting on the ground, blind, and 
deeply scarred over the head and face. We saluted 
the old man, and, after some rest, asked the cause of 
the scars and blindness. 

" Tuan," said he, " I was a strong young man, 
many years ago. Since then I have been blind and 
useless. I was then a young man, and went up 
that hill to cut rattans for making matting. A. 
tiger sprung on me, but I fought with him. I 
cleft his skull open with my parang (chopper). I 
have no more recollection of what occurred, but that 
when I awoke I heard my wife sighing. I tried to 
look at her ; but I could not see. ' Where is the 
tiger ?' said I, raving. My wife said ' Hush, you 
are very ill. The tiger is dead, and we found you 
after some days' search lying beside it. We thought 
you dead ; for you were weltering in blood. We 
lifted you up to take you to the kramat (burying 
ground), but when we were washing you, life had 
not ebbed out, and you have revived.' The fore- 
claws had cleft my skull and torn out my eyes, yet 
dingan tolong Allah (with God's assistance) I lived, 
and am now an old man, with children and grand- 
children." 

Strange idea of the Malays to call so terrible a 
scourge as the tiger by the reverential name of 
" grandfather." Yet when we consider how prone 
uncivilized man is to propitiate the evil influences, 
rather than to honour the Author of all Good, we 
need not wonder at this. 



ANOTHER RAID. 



137 



Leaving the old man, we struck across a paddy- 
field to Bukit Togunger, and arrived at a Malay- 
house, stockaded and covered with dense fruit 
groves. Here we were civilly entertained by the 
Malay owner with cocoa nuts and fruit. While thus 
engaged, we had time to inspect the work of a 
Malay woman who was weaving. She had six fin- 
gers on each hand, and was busy weaving a sarong 
of a checked pattern. Her apparatus was of the 
rudest description, yet the web was strong and 
lasting. 

Leaving this, we proceeded over undulating 
prairies of lalang, at times passing through deserted 
groves — at times through open spaces. We walked 
for several miles till we came to the mangrove 
jungle at the head of Junjong Mati. The vegeta- 
tion was exuberant, yet our impressions were me- 
lancholy. Wasted by the tiger and the pirate, the 
whole country was depopulated. There stood the 
posts of the houses, and there the ancient palm and 
fruit groves ; but all was silent as death, and the 
wail of the unka (ape) sounded the funeral dirge. 
We returned to the police station by dark. 

Next morning at four o'clock we started in our 
boat for the head of the Juru River. It was dawn 
before we reached the landing place at Bukit Ketchil. 
Here the elephant was ready waiting for me. I 
stopped for some time with the native merchant of 
the place, a Jawi Pakan (Indo Malay), and we 
found him busy, even at that early hour, buying 



138 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



and selling to the Malays. They brought sugar, 
rice, rattans, &c., for sale, he giving in return, opium, 
cloth, ironmongery, &c. His conversation was to 
the following effect : — 

" Well, tuan, I am glad to see you. I am glad to 
see a white man here, it shows the country is pro- 
gressing, when a white man thinks it worthy of his 
notice. They are a bad set here ; all thieves — all 
thieves. I have been robbed three times, burnt out 
twice, and stabbed once. All thieves, gamblers, 
cock-fighters, and opium-smokers. Tuan, they 
want to feel the hukkum kras (strong law) of the 
white man. Yes, sir, let the strong law of the 
white man come down to us, then I will be able to 
eat my rice in peace." 

Just then a customer would arrive, so his atten- 
tion would be diverted to him. The Malay brought 
syrup. 

" What is the price of that gula, oh Inchi V 
" Two cents a catty," replied the Malay. 
£C May I make an offer ?" said the merchant. 
u Yes, oh father !" said the Malay. 
" Will you take half a cent a catty ?" said the 
merchant. 

<c No, oh father !" said the Malay, without anger. 

Now they haggle for half an hour, and compound 
their differences by barter. The poor Malay was in 
the hands of the wily merchant, for he had not got 
his accustomed smoke of opium and the merchant 
knew this. 



ANOTHER RAID, 



139 



This business being disposed of, my merchant 
friend would continue : " These Malays are a stupid 
people ; they are mere buffaloes, so we must drive 
them warily, or they are apt to toss you on their 
horns." 

But reverting again to his ill-usage amongst 
them, he would say, " They are a bad set, a lazy set 
of thieves. I wish you white gentlemen would 
come and settle here, then the fear of the gallows, 
or banishment to Bombay, would keep them in 
order. I shall never be safe till the white man 
comes up here." 

Leaving the merchant, I mounted the elephant 
at nine o'clock in the forenoon, and leaving 
Oamut to return by boat, I struck for Tasseh. 
While we passed over the open country I was led 
to a large stone having unknown characters cut out 
on it ; and having gazed at it for some time, we 
struck into the high jungle ; and, after a tedious 
journey of about seven hours, we came upon the 
open clearings of the Malays of Tasseh. Having 
only, my gomala (elephant keeper) with me, he en- 
livened the journey with recounting the great dan- 
gers thereof, particularly if we fell in with a herd of 
elephants, whose marks were numerous, and most 
of all, our dangers would be increased if we fell in 
with a gaja toongal (a lone elephant). He said if 
we met with this we were done for, as it would 
catch our female elephant by the tail and hold it 
there till he pulled it out. However these prog- 



140 



LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



nostications proved fallacious, and we came safely 
to the habitations of man. 

We found that the men of the settlement had all 
departed, so the women were in a great fright at 
the unusual apparition of a white man, a genus they 
had never seen before, so we passed on, notwith- 
standing it was dark, till we arrived at the hut of 
some Chinese wood-cutters. Making our errand 
known, viz., lodgings for the night, we were most 
hospitably asked in. The gomala tethered the 
elephant, and such simple fare as the host had, was 
set before us. This was rice, salt fish, and tea. 
The hut was small, and he had forty or fifty coolies 
in his employment — these lay in pairs in their beds 
under mosquitoe curtains. Every bed had a light 
inside of it, and here some amused themselves by 
singing in high falsetto tones, others smoked tobacco, 
and others opium. The air of the apartment soon 
became foetid, steaming, and overpowering. I was 
accommodated with a bed to myself, and my gomala 
lay on a bench close by me. I lay down, but feel- 
ing smothered, I rushed out to the open air several 
times during the night, only to be driven back by 
the fear of tigers, for their foot-prints round the 
house were observed daily. After one of the most 
comfortless nights I ever spent, I hailed the early 
refreshing dawn with its cool land breeze. Eousing 
my gomala, he prepared the elephant; and, after 
an early breakfast, we started for Bukit Tamboon, 
Having passed through the bush, evidently full of 



ANOTHEE RAID. 



141 



rhinoceroses, whose footprints were very abundant, 
we gained the open road. Here, tired of the ele- 
phant, I descended and walked on foot to Bukit 
Tamboon, which place I gained by noon. Here I 
engaged a canoe to carry me to Ckankat Kaledang, 
and returned from thence to Bukit Tamboon by 
dark. 

Here I engaged the canoe, with two men, to take 
me to Kubong Boyah, so we pulled all night, and 
got there by daylight next morning. It was a 
beautiful moonlight night, and lucky it was for us 
that no Che Mats were fallen in with. These excur- 
sions were not without the excitement of danger, 
as may be inferred. I may mention that the very 
man that paddled me down the Junjong Idup was 
next day whisked off his canoe by the tail of an 
alligator, and devoured alive. The alligator sunk 
to the bottom, but the effervescence of the dead 
body made the monster rise to the surface two days 
afterwards, when it was caught, and brought on 
shore. When opened, the body of the man was 
found to be perfectly whole, excepting that his nose 
had decomposed and disappeared. 

At a subsequent visit to Tasseh, I was joined by 
an old and intimate friend. On this occasion we 
had a Malay house to stop in, and when so housed, 
it rained for three days continuously, so that we 
could not go out. It was there that I first felt the 
power of Shakspeare, which my friend read with 
great discernment and feeling. How often have I 



142 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



dwelt on that little episode of life! Our Malay 
retainers showed great care of us * they were well 
armed and lay around us. And why so ? may be 
asked. The common fear of treachery ! And was 
this groundless? No. A week later, two other 
Europeans made their way to the same place ; and, 
at dead of night, were attacked, the one being 
murdered, the other left for dead. 

It was in such excursions as these that I became 
acquainted with every nook and corner of the pro- 
vince, from Krean to Muda, and by which I made 
extensive acquaintance with the native landholders, 
tradesmen, and planters. Being then the only non- 
official European resident in the province, I had 
free and unfettered access to the confidence and 
sympathies of the people. I found the general 
population while steeped in ignorance, poverty, and 
superstition, possessed of many amiable characteris- 
tics. They were in variably civil and obliging in their 
demeanour. No doubt, in the back-lying parts, 
thieves and petty pirates, and even murderers, 
abounded ; but, in the cultivated districts, the people 
were quiet and orderly. Their habits and customs 
might be repugnant to our European moral code ; 
but is that not as it always has been from time im- 
memorial? I could not but feel that here was a 
grand field for a benevolent and philanthropic 
government. A small portion of the knowledge of 
the arts and sciences imparted to the people, would 
have afforded many advantages to the governors 



ANOTHER RAID. 



143 



and the governed ; even the knowledge of reading 
and writing wonld have been a great boon to the 
population in increasing their powers of observation, 
enlarging their experience, and generally in im- 
proving their condition. A retrogressive govern- 
ment might fear this, an intelligent and vigorous one 
would cherish it. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE BOAR-HUNT. 

The locality of Sabrang Prye was infested with the 
wild hog, — so much so that attempts at planting 
were fruitless ; what was put into the ground to- 
day, was sure to be uprooted at night. This led to 
general hunts of the destructive animals. The na- 
tives having plenty leisure on their hands, were fond 
of the excitement of a boar-hunt, so they speedily 
responded to the call of hambat babi (pig-driving). 
Toh B dicker was called in to consult with us as to 
the getting up of a grand hunt behind Bdgdn 
Ludr. He was said to be skilled in devices for 
effecting their destruction, so his opinion was to be 
taken, and his counsel was to be followed. He said 
that there was only one boar he could not engage 
to destroy, as no liikmat (contrivance) of his, or any 
other man's could ever entrap it. It was betudh 
(invulnerable) to muskets and blunderbusses, as long 
as it had a jangeer gdding (an ivory chain) on its 
snout. If it could possibly be caught with that off 
its nose, it might be taken ; but, as it only put the 



THE BOAR-HUNT. 



145 



chain off when feeding at night-time, there was little 
chance of its thus being taken at fault. " However, 
all others/' he said, " I know how to destroy, and'that 
in a way I will soon describe to you. The first thing 
is to make two long fences, running up to a point. 
At the point we place strong frames for the animals 
to rush through ; and now it is, in the instant of 
their passing through, that they meet with inevi- 
table destruction ; for in the frame are fixed four 
sharp sdbit (blades), which rip up the animal in an 
instant." Thus instructed, I had the work pre- 
pared, under Toh Bakker's instructions, and invited 
several personal friends on a set day, — that day 
having been first named a lucky one by Toh Bakker. 
We collected numerous Malays to beat the bush, 
and, at the time appointed, mounting our elephants, 
we arrived at the scene. It was in a thick copse- 
wood, where the wild hog abounded. We had a 
small space cleared for the animals to pass before 
arriving at the frame, so that we might have a shot 
by way of excitement and practice. We dismounted 
from the elephants, and sat on some trees whose 
branches were cut so as to afford a seat. The bush- 
beaters having collected to the number of two 
or three hundred, commenced at the further end 
with a yell and din that soon brought the animals 
our way \ and, as they approached, we were all on 
the qui vive. First a small panther leaped across 
the space. Several guns were fired at him, but he 
escaped ; and, as he leapt over the frames, he was 

L 



146 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



not injured. Not so with the wild hogs ; boars, 
swine, and pigs rushed past, — many of them being 
hit before, — and madly plunged into the bladed 
frames, on the outer side of which they lay, cut up 
on four sides, weltering in their blood. 

The Malays, being Mahomedans, would not toucli 
the slain animals ; but the Chinese greedily carried 
off the carcases. We reserved one small one for 
our own table, which, on being carried home, was 
soon cub up into joints and curries. This made no 
bad change from fche usual diet of fowl and fish. 

A dinner of this sort was always much enjoyed 
in India. The free and frank intercourse of Euro- 
peans, and their hilarity and abandon, provided the 
best relish to a somewhat simple fare. " Bass's 
best " flowed pretty freely on such occasions, sharpen- 
ing the wits and sustaining a constant flow of j oke, 
song, and, not unfrequently, mad frolic. 

At a subsequent boar-hunt to this, the affair did 
not end so well, a huge tusked boar having turned 
on the natives, ripping up two of them so badly 
that they had to be borne from the field on 
stretchers, half dead. 



CHAPTEE XXVIII. 



EE PTILES AND INSECTS. 

As I had finished breakfast one morning, I was 
startled by the noise of men's voices and clamouring. 
I leapt up out of my couch and ran to the verandah. 
There were four men hauling along something black 
which I could not make out. I was not kept long 
in suspense, for on seeing me they called out that 
they had brought an alligator for me. I went down 
to them, and sure enough they had brought an alii, 
gator, about ten feet in length. They had him 
bound hand and foot with stout rattans, and thus 
also were his jaws firmly closed ; indeed they had 
him so securely bound that he could scarcely move. 
It appeared that they had found him near the man- 
grove, lying gorged with food, so that he was in a 
dormant state. This was the secret of his having 
been secured and hauled along. I paid the men a 
dollar for the alligator, and sent it over to a scien- 
tific friend residing in Penang. This scientific 
friend was fond of experimenting, so the alligator 
had his powers completely tested. 

L 2 



148 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



On visiting my friend three weeks afterwards, I 
asked how his subject got on. " Ee maun" said he, 
with great glee, " I hardly daur gae near it noo, it 
jumps like a skipjack ; but come awa Soon, and I'll 
let you see some fun." 

It appears my friend had got an hour's amuse- 
ment daily, before going to breakfast, by setting his 
bull terrier at the alligator. At first all the barking 
and biting of the dog could not move him, now 
he had only to go within five yards to excite the 
monster to such an extent as to bear out my friend's 
practical description. Though still tied and bound 
as the Malays had brought it to me, by twisting and 
jerking its body it could throw itself several yards 
up in the air, and great was the difficulty the terrier 
had in avoiding blows from the animal's tail, — and I 
can aver that a switch from this would have been 
enough for poor " Pepper." Such was the state of 
the reptile, after being three weeks without food. 
Soon after this it was destroyed, and its stuffed body 
graced my Scotch friend's studio for many a day. 

Not long after this occurred, the Malays fell 
across a boa-constrictor in the same state of stupor. 
They made a running noose, and threw it over its 
head ; and, in this manner, they hauled it along to 
my bungalow. Its length was nearly fifteen feet, 
and an immense swelling in its middle, showed that 
it was gorged with some large animal. It lay as if 
it were lifeless, so I set the Malays to rip up its 
stomach. This they quickly did with their pisau routs 



REPTILES AND INSECTS, 149 

(peculiar knives), and out fell a full grown wild hog, 
entirely whole, excepting a little flesh from off its 
nose. To our astonishment the serpent lay perfectly 
dormant — a physiological fact that doctors may 
account for. On the Chinese hearing of the serpent, 
they all assembled from the village and bought it from 
the Malays to carry off home. It appeared that they 
highly relished it as an article of food. Abraim, a 
Malay, explained to me the manner in which the 
boa-constrictor catches the wild hog. The hog 
makes a nest for itself in the scrub ; in which it 
lies during daylight. The serpent finds out the nest 
and coils itself round the interior, so that the nest 
remains nearly as large as it was. The unsuspecting 
wild hog on entering its abode is thus caught in the 
folds of the serpent in a moment, and crushed to 
death. 

One day I had gone out for a trip, and on my 
return found my servant lying all his length on the 
floor uttering wild exclamations of pain and terror. 
There was a great hubbub in the house ; for it was 
full of my native neighbours. The cause of the dis- 
turbance I soon perceived was owing to the visit of 
a snake six feet long, now lying dead. When quiet 
was restored, I ascertained that, during my absence, 
the snake had got into my bed, and as the servant 
was about to make it, the reptile flew at him and bit 
him. He fled from the house in great terror, and 
none of the neighbours dared to go in to kill the 
intruder. At last an old Malay woman, taking a 



150 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



switch in her hand, cautiously peered through the 
door, and perceiving the reptile on the floor gave it 
a stroke with the switch, thus breaking its back, 
and rendering it harmless. The bite did not prove 
deadly. Having sent my servant to a European 
physician he applied a lotion — which, if it was not 
the means of effecting a cure, at any rate did the 
patient no harm. 

In the course of a few months, such were my 
experiences of the larger reptiles. Amongst the 
smaller sorts, scorpions and centipedes were nu- 
merous ; and I had the misfortune to be bitten by 
the latter. It was a small one, so I was relieved 
from excessive pain in a few hours. The insects are 
more annoying than these, though they are not so 
terrible as the reptiles. The crunga, or red ant, is 
a most disagreeable, pugnacious fellow, and exces- 
sively annoying to wood- cutters. I have seen a 
Malay so bitten by them, that he became a mass of 
ulcers, and did not recover for months. The land- 
leech, also, is very irritating to persons travelling 
in the primeval jungles ; but, of all insects, the 
sand-fly beats everything in its tantalizing tortures. 
It bites through stockings, and is not to be beaten 
off, by smoke, or by fanning; further, its bites 
continue their irritation for several weeks, and some- 
times break into sores. The hornet is a very nu- 
merous tribe in Penang. A few of them can kill a 
horse ; and I believe that six of them could kill a 
man. I once got a sting on my right foot which 



REPTILES AND INSECTS. 



151 



laid me up for several days ; and for weeks after- 
wards a little walking would cause the whole foot 
to swell. 

Of all the reptiles, the snake is most abhorrent to 
mankind ; and these regions abound with them, 
both on shore and at sea. I well recollect, when 
leading my horse through a brook near Mount 
Erskine, that I w T as about to place my foot in the 
coil of a hideous snake. I perceived my danger, and 
gave a leap that surprised me. My hair stood on 
end, and I shuddered all over. The beautiful green 
snake is innocuous, but not so the black and mottled 
ones ; and the sea-snakes, of the tiniest forms, are 
deadly. Snakes infest the bath-rooms and founda- 
tions of houses ; and, in wet weather, they ascend 
into the upper rooms. They climb up the cables 
of vessels at anchor ; and, not unfrequently, glide 
over the sleeping Lascars. The encountering of 
snakes is of daily occurrence to those who have 
rural employments ; and, during moonlight nights, 
the horses stumble across them as you canter along 
the roads. 

The reptiles and insects of Malaya detract much 
from the comforts of life. True, Europeans are 
seldom hurt by them ; yet, the very knowledge of 
their existence destroys that agreeable amenity en- 
joyed in temperate climates. The natives, whose 
avocations lead them much into their tracks, suffer 
greatly, such as agriculturists, fishermen, and wood- 
men. I had almost forgotten to mention the white 



152 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



ant. It is a most destructive little creature. If it 
once gets into a house it soon eats up all the beams. 
It was even accused by the East India Company's 
treasurer of Bencoolen of having eaten up all the 
dollars in his charge, iron chest and all ! The Court 
of Directors in Leadenhall Street, fortunately for 
the treasurer, being in a waggish mood at the time, 
ordered a supply of small files to be sent out to 
their defaulting servant, to file the teeth of the 
little animals. 

In this case it certainly was unduly blamed ; but 
I can vouch for a portmanteau, filled with my best 
suit of black clothes, having been completely spoiled 
in the course of a single night. When I opened it 
in the morning, to my utter disgust, I found it full 
of the insatiable destroyers. 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

KEDDAH DISTURBANCES. 

All south Asiatic nations seem to exist in a chronic 
state of rebellion, and their governments seem to 
maintain their preponderance by setting neighbour- 
ing districts at loggerheads. In order to weaken 
these, they cherish local antipathies, by way of gain- 
ing leisure to themselves. Anarchy is thus the rule, 
not the exception. Where there is no law, the 
strongest does as he likes. Every petty rajah, or 
son of a rajah, maintains his consequence by dis- 
orderly armed retainers, and the only casual relief 
to the subject is when these quarrel amongst them- 
selves, for in this case the retainers have to fight 
their foes, instead of oppressing their fellow-country- 
men. This state of matters reduces the producing 
power of the populations to the minimum. Nothing 
is produced but absolute necessities ; juo ^wealth is 
accumulated by the subjects. All are steeped in 
poverty, all are discontented, all hail revolution and 
change. The populations bear extortion and tyranny 



154 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



with the most abject servility, till the culminating 
points are arrived at, when the smouldering flame of 
discontent bursts forth with spasmodic energy. The 
effort is short and violent, and is succeeded by another 
term of dormant apathy. The native of the tropical 
East has not the vigour and intelligence of the 
European; he can, therefore, neither combine for 
general protection, nor organize such a system of 
government as is capable of maintaining order. 
Thus Eastern governments, to be strong — or even 
useful — must of necessity be despotic. A despotism 
in the hands of a just ruler is a blessing to Eastern 
nations — not a curse. 

Keddah was a weak Eastern state, situated at the 
fag end of two powerful ones, viz., the Siamese and 
Burmese. It was expected to serve both these 
masters ; consequently it hated one and despised 
the other, and got into bad odour with both. When 
Burmah was stronger than Siam, it acknowledged 
its superiority ; when Siam was stronger, it paid 
obeisance in that direction. The exactions, whether 
of men, money, tokens or symbols, that Keddah had 
to bear, were at the caprice of the monarchs of these 
countries. Keddah would have gladly propitiated 
either for the sake of peace ; but this was not to be. 
Siam claimed a token — the Bunga Mas (golden 
flower), — while Burmah claimed assistance in men. * 
What was to be done ? The English were powerful ; 
— might not Keddah rest quiet under her wings ? 
Such might have been the thought when Keddah 



KEDDAH DISTURBANCES. 



155 



offered Penang to Captain Light. Captain Light, 
on behalf of the East India Company, bought the 
island for a consideration ; but he did not engage to 
protect Keddah from political enemies, — the real 
object of the Malay rajah. Some say that the island 
was given as a dowry to the princess of Keddah, 
who was said to have married Light. This fiction, no 
doubt, has been mixed up with the Bombay transac- 
tion of a Portuguese princess. Light would have 
had to be circumcised before he got a royal Mus- 
sulman's daughter. This refutes the traditional 
idea. 

Captain Light took possession of the purchased 
island of Penang on the 17th July, 1786. If it 
belonged to Siam, Siam should have protested 
against the transfer. This Siam did not do. Sir 
George Leith again, on behalf of the East India 
Company, bought Province Wellesley from Keddah 
for the sum of two thousand Spanish dollars. This 
happened on the 15th July, 1800, nor was this 
transfer opposed by action or protest on the part of 
Siam. If Keddah had been a province of Siam, and 
the Rajah of Keddah a mere vassal, these cessions 
of territory at distinct dates must have either been 
silently approved of by Siam, if not, those were the 
times to protest. 

Keddah sent admissions of superiority to Siam, 
but so does Siam to China. Reasoning on the 
basis of these admissions, how is it that, in after 
years, Siam claimed more to do with Penang than 



156 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



d id China ? Keddah had her native line of princes, 
son succeeding father for generations, as Si am has 
nephew succeeding uncle. Keddah had her written 
laws as Siam has. What difference was there 
between these two kingdoms ? Merely this, Siam 
was strong, Keddah weak. The claims of Siam 
were the claims of might, not of right. Siam was 
jealous that Keddah had obtained an European 
friend and neighbour, so she determined to vex her. 
First she coerced Keddah to make war on Perak : 
this was in 1813. The object was to weaken both, 
preparatory to their being overrun. In 1821 Siam 
overran Keddah, and its native princes fled. She 
would have done the same to Perak, but for the 
fear of the English and the Dutch. Keddah was 
devastated, and many of her inhabitants carried off 
to slavery. Thousands fled into Penang and Pro- 
vince Wellesley. This suited the purposes of the 
English land proprietors ; it cleared their jungles, 
and gave them a settled population. In 1822 the 
Burmese war was looming in the distance; so it 
was found to be English policy to propitiate Siam. 
Keddah relations were consequently sacrificed, and 
the grant of Penang and Province Wellesley was 
sought to be confirmed by Siam. This object was 
attained in 1826, under Colonel Burney's treaty with 
Siam. 

In 1831 Tuanku Kudin, a chief of Malay royal 
blood, headed an insurrection against his Siamese 
conquerors. He was successful at first, and regained 



KEDDAH DISTURBANCES. 



157 



temporary possession of his native country. But 
England's assistance was now given to Siam, and he 
was reduced. He remained by a remnant of his 
adherents, fifty or sixty in number, and died a 
hero's death in defending Keddah fort. He was 
overpowered by numbers, and nearly all died with 
him. As in the case of Sir William Wallace, the 
patriot's head was sent to the (Siamese) capital. 
Keddah was again devastated, and Province Welles- 
ley replenished with settlers ; lands rose in value, 
and rents ruled high. It was at this time that the 
East India Company's chief official took up ex- 
tensive land claims. But the value of his land 
acquisitions met another check ; for, in 1838, a man 
called Tuanku Mahomed Saad, a prince of royal 
blood, raised another insurrection against the 
Siamese, and carried many people away with him 
from Penang and Province Wellesley. Eents fell, 
and the value of land in the English settlements 
again became nominal. Tuanku Mahomed Saad 
drove the Siamese out of Keddah beyond Sangora ; 
but the English and the Siamese were now allies. 
He was consequently beaten back, escaping only to 
be laid hold of by the East India Company's 
Government as a pirate, and to be dealt with as 
such. Keddah this time was utterly destroyed ; its 
fertile plains wasted ; the herds were driven off the 
fields, and the fruit groves were cut down; the 
mother fled with the infant at her breast, and the 
father crept through the jungles with his little 



158 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



ones in his arms. Province Wellesley was again 
replenished with settlers, and Englishmen speculated 
and grew rich on the troubles of their neighbours. 
More eyes than mine have witnessed these scenes, 
so I dare not exaggerate. In 1786 the English 
settled down on a desert island near flourishing 
Keddah. In 1838 Keddah is itself a desert, the 
island Penang a very garden full of life and pros- 
perity. I have seen the poor Keddan come to the 
sheds and outhouses to lie down and die. Others 
more fortunate in preserving life, were glad to 
labour for their bare rice only. The actual strife of 
warfare is not the worst. 

Oamut used frequently to exclaim, " Kalan rajah 
berclai orang ketchil benasa." (When princes fall 
out, the destruction comes on the lowly.) An 
appropriate illustration for the times. And shall 
we ascribe all these miseries to the English ? Cer- 
tainly not. They must lie in the first place at the 
door of the Rajah of Keddah, who sold Penang for a 
good price. He did not fully explain his connection 
with Siam ; and, by this want of frankness, brought 
his country into great danger. Had he not 
counted on the assistance of the English (which 
he had no right to expect) he would have been more 
complacent to Siam, and averted her vengeance. 
Keddah would have done as she did heretofore, and 
submitted to exactions for the sake of peace. But 
the after part that England played, in assisting 
Siam against Keddah, was abhorrent to generosity, 



KEDDAH DISTURBANCES. 159 

not to speak of gratitude. Such a course would 
never have been sanctioned by the home authorities, 
however expedient or proper it might have appeared 
to the East India Company's Government of India, 
if they had been fully aware of the facts of the 
case* 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

KEDDAH HISTOEY. 

After I had acquired a fluent use of the language, 
I became curious to know the prior history of the 
people. For this purpose I engaged a juru tulis 
(clerk) to read to me and instruct me in Malayan 
literature. Amongst other books and manuscripts 
I was fortunate to obtain a copy of the Keddah 
annals, at that time a rarity, though, I believe that 
since that time, many copies have been made, 
one of which is now by me. This book purported 
to be " A true and faithful History of Keddah from 
its foundation" and had to be mentioned with all 
due respect in the presence of Malays. I will give 
a strictly literal translation of the first page or two, 
as a specimen of the style of these little copper- 
coloured historians, through whom the genius of the 
people will peep out" s a little also. 

"In .the name of God the compassionate, the 

MERCIFUL. 

" Now it is related that during the time that the 



KEDDAH HISTORY. 



161 



prophet of God, Solomon, was firmly seated in his 
throne of the world (he ruled) over all creatures of 
divers kinds and races, that had been created on the 
earth by Almighty God (such as) mankind, jins, 
fairies, dewas, and mumbangs, also all kinds and 
races of beasts (that live) on the face thereof. 

" The Lord of all worlds gave over all the things 
of this earth to be under the authority of the 
prophet of God, Solomon (to whom be peace!), 
that he might govern and give laws to the 
same. 

" It was ordained that there was to be no opposi- 
tion to the laws of the prophet of God, Solomon, 
(whether) from all the beasts which roam on the 
earth, or from the birds which fly in the air. 

" Every creature inhabiting the numberless hills, 
mountains, and islands, placed in this world, were 
to be under the authority of the prophet of God, 
Solomon." * * * * 

" While the war of Sri Eama and Handoman 
continued on the island of Lankapuri (now Lang- 
kawi), it was desolated. Shortly after this came 
the Garuda (the Arabian rhuk), a bird of great size, 
whose descent was from the grandchildren of Maria 
Kaja Rewana. So the Garuda remained there in 
search of food. This Garuda, during the time of 
Sri Eama and Handoman, was accustomed to engage 
in battles. Many were its supernatural gifts, in so 
much so that all the living creatures that fly, creep, 
or walk on the earth feared it. 

M 



162 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



"Now on a certain day came a hawk to the 
Garuda. Said he, ■ Don't you know I can give you 
some news (namely) that the Eajah of Eoum (Persia) 
has got a son, and now he intends to ask a betrothal 
with the daughter of the Eajah of China ? These 
two countries are very far distant from each other, 
one being towards the sunrise and the other towards 
the sunset. Further the Eajah of Eoum intends to 
send his son by ship.' ' Ay,' said the Garuda to 
the hawk, £ I heard the rumour from an old crow. 
He saw ambassadors carrying presents from Eoum 
towards China, so I new till I could see the state 
of affairs to be as they were represented to me, and 
thus satisfied myself.' Said the hawk, ' The Eajah 
of Eoum designs to display his mightiness to be 
above that of all other princes of the world.' Said 
the Garuda to the hawk, ' How is he able to main- 
tain all this pomp and circumstance ? In my 
opinion he will have a downfall ; but, wait a little. 
I will first seek an interview with the prophet of 
God, Solomon ; for is he not the greatest prince of 
the world ? If things turn out as I anticipate, I 
will put a stoppage to this design of the royal 
families of the two countries.' 

' 6 When the hawk heard the words of the Garuda, 
it asked leave to depart, and flew away. At the 
same time the Garuda ascended into the upper 
regions till he had surmounted the clouds, like 
smoke \ and, in an instant, down comes the huge 
bird before the presence of the prophet of God, 



KEDDAH HISTORY. 



163 



Solomon. Said the Garuda, with obeisance, c Oh 
prophet of God, I have heard a report that the 
Rajah of Roum has a son, and the Rajah of China 
a daughter. Now the Rajah of Roum wishes to 
betroth the daughter of the Rajah of China. The 
personal appearance of either is exceedingly hand- 
some, and their countenances are beautiful; they 
are not to be equalled. Now as to the position of 
these two, they are so far separate, that in my 
opinion it is not possible for them to meet (each 
other).' Then said the prophet of God, Solomon, 
' Oh Garuda, by the Lord that made me, if the pair 
are betrothed, you may close them in wood, or in 
stone • but these will not keep them apart.' The 
Garuda replied, ' Oh prophet of God, let me under- 
take the work of keeping apart the princess of China 
from the prince of Roum. If I do not succeed in 
keeping apart these two, I will remove from under 
the sky, and from over the earth, away from the 
place inhabited by mankind.' Whereupon the 
prophet of God, Solomon, replied, 'Very well, do 
as much as you are able ; but remember, when you 
manage to separate these betrothed of mankind, yon 
must come and tell me.' So the Garuda replied, 
' Oh prophet of God — very good ; when done.' 
Now the Garuda begged permission to retire from 
the presence of the prophet of God, Solomon, and 
flew away to the country of China. Betimes arriving 
in China, he scanned the whole government of the 

m 2 



164 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Rajah, of China, which to appearance was as the 
hawk reported." 

Such is a specimen of the style of the Keddah 
annals. I may add that the prince of Roum pro- 
ceeded on his voyage under the care of Marong 
Mahawangsa, accompanied by a great fleet, menujoh 
pendoman ha henna China (coursing with the com- 
pass towards China). As they gained the sea of 
Hindostan, they amused themselves timbahan dingan 
bunii bedal meriam (with the noise of firing powder 
from cannon). 

I remember well we stopped at this, and I was 
heretical enough to ask questions. " Well, juru tulis, 
I see that your country is a very ancient one. Its 
history goes back to the times of King Solomon ?" 

" Oh, yes/' said he, " Keddah is an ancient 
country." 

" And I see that the birds could speak in those 
days ?" 

" Oh, yes," said he, " the birds were wiser than 
men ; at that time the birds were accustomed to 
eat with plates, dishes, and chop-sticks, and behave 
themselves like manushia (mankind)." 

" And I see the compass was used in those 
ancient times ?" 

" Oh, yes," said the juru tulis, " the compass has 
been handed down from our ancestors in olden 
times. 

" And," said I, " cannons were common with you, 



KEDDAH HISTOKY. 



165 



while Solomon's soldiers fought with swords and 
slings ?" 

" Barankali " (perhaps), said he, not now knowing 
the drift of my questions. I did not offend his 
feelings by expressing a further doubt. 

We continued, night after night, at our transla- 
tion, much of which I wrote down ; but which lay 
for years in my desk forgotten. My business is not 
now to pursue this history ; this has already been 
given to the public by an oriental scholar (Colonel 
Law), but it will be interesting, so far, to relate the 
characteristic native account of how the kingdom of 
Keddah was established. The Garuda flew away to 
China, and picked up the princess while gathering 
flowers, and carried her oft' to the island of Lanka- 
puri (now called Langkawi, situated off the coast of 
Keddah). Meanwhile the prince continued his 
voyage as far as the river Changong (Tenasserim) ; 
here the Garuda appeared, and raised a storm of 
wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, casting his vast 
shadow over the whole fleet. Marong Mahawangsa 
fired his enchanted arrow, called ayunan, and set 
him to flight, but not before the Garuda carried off 
three ships with him. The fleet now proceeded as 
far as Tavai (Tavoy). Here the Garuda appeared 
again, and was shot at by Marong Mahawangsa 
with the arrow called Brat pura. This set him to 
flight again ; but, with the loss of other three 
vessels. The Garuda appeared again, and the dis- 
abled fleet took refuge in Mrit (Mergui). 



166 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



At this place a great storm was again raised by 
the appearance of the Garuda, and he carried off 
other three vessels, the enchanted bow Prusa Sain- 
pani Gambara, having been used by Marong Maha- 
wangsa in vain. He then shot another arrow, 
which changed into the bird Jintaya, and which 
chased the Garuda off the field. But the prince of 
"Rouni had proceeded ahead of the fleet, which was 
perceived by the Garuda, as he neared the island of 
Lankapuri, and here he attacked and sunk the 
prince's ship. The prince, however, was miracu- 
lously saved by clinging to a plank for several 
days, and was at length washed ashore. Here he 
was discovered by the princess of China's attend- 
ants, and carried to a cave, and was here tended 
by his betrothed, the princess of China, though 
unknown to each other, and under her care he 
revived. 

Meanwhile Marong Mahawangsa was overcome 
with grief at the loss of his royal charge, so he 
landed on the adjacent coast, then called Pulo Srai 
(the present Keddah). Here he was met by the 
natives of the tribe Girgassi, who elected him as 
their rajah, and here he built a palace called Lanka- 
suka (region of delight). Having established his 
government, people from abroad came to dwell 
under his rule. Trade and commerce nourished, 
owing to the prudence, liberality, wisdom, and 
justice of Marong Mahawangsa. 

Thus, according to traditional history, the little 



KEDDAH HISTOEY. 



167 



Malay kingdom of Keddah was founded as far back 
as the times of King Solomon. The history of 
Keddah will thus be seen to have much fable 
amongst its grains of truth, and yet it is interesting 
to the Oriental archaeologist. Indeed the history 
has been of political importance, and has been 
quoted over and over again to maintain opposite 
policies. The same chapters and verses have been 
appealed to by opposite factions to support their 
jarring interests or theories. Colonel Law is of 
opinion that the book dates as far back as three or 
four centuries ; with all submission I would make 
it not more than a century or a century and a half. 
The style is so modern, that in the ever-changing 
dialects of the Malays, the style must be the crite- 
rion by which to judge of its antiquity, for there 
are no dates given in the book. It is evidently of 
Mahomedan concoction, in the mythical portions, 
and these have been mixed up with the historical 
traditions of the people, and written at a time at 
which Keddah had an opportunity of growing 
strong, when Burmah and Siam had other weighty 
matters in hand, such as intestine wars, or wars 
with neighbours. 



CHAPTEE XXXI. 

SUPERSTITIONS. 

The preceding chapter will give my readers a small 
glimpse into the mythological antecedents of my 
copper- coloured friends. I will now relate a few 
incidents which will give a peep into their present 
standard of mind. 

One day I was lounging in my wicker chair, over- 
come by the great heat of the day. This was in 
the open verandah, where I was speaking to Gamut, 
Abraim, Doih, Hajee Abdulla, and others, who were 
seated tailor fashion on the matted floor. Oanchee 
arrived with a message which bespoke importance, 
for he gave a more than usual low tabbeh (bow), 
and sat himself down beside Abraim. 

" Well, Oanchee," said I, " what is the news ?" 

" Oh," said he, "I find that new clearing at Per- 
matang Pot an baniak kras (very hard)." 

" How is that ?" 

" The hantus (evil spirits) are baniak kras" 
" What do you mean ?" 

u Oh, Long Ketchii's wife has had a miscarriage." 



SUPERSTITIONS. 



169 



" What have the hantus to do with that ?" 

" Oh, it was Long Ketchil that felled the big 
marenti tree, and the hantus got angry at him, and 
has taken to usih (vex) his wife, so none of the men 
will go near the clearing since the hantus have com- 
menced to meddle with the woman." 

" Well, what is to be done ?" 

Here Abraim put in his advice to clear up mat- 
ters. He said that his elder brother Oanchee had 
asked him to speak to me, as he knew I would not 
believe him, seeing that the white man does not 
believe in iblis (the devil) or in hantus (evil spirits), 
but that the Malay people were very takoot (fright- 
ened) at them, as they gave them sickness, fevers, 
and coughs, and all sorts of ailments. This was 
the case if they did not pugi (humour) them. They 
were very hard on the Malays, though they might 
not dare to meddle with great folks, like the white 
people. 

" Well," said I, " the work of clearing must go 
on, so what is to be done ?" 

" Well," said Hajee Abdulla, " begging your 
pardon, sir, I am a holy man, and have made the 
pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and would not 
ask a favour for my brother Oanchee if it was not 
necessary. But we must have a kinduri (feast) be- 
fore any more clearing can go on." 

" And what is the good of the kinduri?" 

" Oh, it is to drive away the evil spirits." 

" Where are they ?" 



170 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



" Oh, they are in the stumps of the trees, and if 
we do not entice them out of the way, they don't 
like to live in the headless stumps, so will jump 
into the first man that comes near them. None of 
the Malays will go near the clearing." 

" You are a hajee," said I to Abdulla, " and a 
true Mussulman ; how is it you believe in hantus ? 
why do you try to keep in favour with them and 
not with Tuan Allah (the Lord God) ?" 

" Oh/' says the hajee, " that may be true ; but 
we must not despise the customs of our ancestors, 
so the only way to keep clear of the hantus is to 
have a kinduri." 

Here Doih struck in ; he said that his wife was 
pregnant and was gila (mad) after balachong. She 
would eat neither rice curry nor anything else but 
balachong. He was sure the hantus had got into her, 
and was putting her up to vex him. The next 
thing would be that she would be gila for another 
husband, and then an amok (murder) might be the 
end of it. Here Oanchee, to back up Doih, said 
that Che Mat Taher has kena latta (been taken 
with latta, a strange nervous affection) since he was 
at the clearing. If you dance he dances ; if you 
roar he roars ; if you run he runs ; if you throw 
anything down he would do the same ; even if 
he had a basket of eggs on his head, down they * 
would go and be smashed all to pieces. There 
was no resisting this appeal, so I asked what 
they wanted me about the kinduri, seeing I did 



SUPERSTITIONS. 



171 



not believe in hantus. Oh, said they all, Tuan has 
got money, we have none. We want you to lend 
us two ringits (dollars) to buy fowls and sambals, 
and then we can have a kinduri, and get rid of the 
hantus. 

Seeing this was the object of the meeting, and 
that there was no getting off, I paid the two dollars 
to Oanchee, who went away with the double object 
of feasting his friends and getting rid of the evil 
spirits. 

When Oanchee had gone, Abraim remarked that 
Permatang Rotan was known of old to be very 
much infested with hantus : that the former settlers 
had fled from their attacks ; and this time he 
had dreamt that they would be as bad if the 
place was not opened with proper ceremonies. 
" Dreamt," said I, " you do not believe in dreams do 

JQH? 

" Oh," said he, tc whatever I dream is sure to 
come to pass. My dreams always come true, so I 
believe in them." 

"Well, if you believe in dreams that you see 
come to pass, how is it you believe in spirits that 
you never saw ? " 

u Oh," said he, " I wish it were the case with 
every one : there is Chelong the opium smoker, he sees 
hantus every night, and has to be locked up in the 
godown (cellar) to keep them off. He shakes like 
a daun neor (cocoa-nut leaf) in the south-west mon- 
soon, and runs as if they wanted to murder him." 



172 



LIFE IN THE FAE EAST. 



With this glimpse into the mysteries of Malayan 
thought, I was anxious to see the Kinduri. Two 
days afterwards, being accounted a lucky day, it 
took place ; but they avoided letting me see the 
rites, being ashamed of my unbelief, and their own 
superstition, which latter was contrary to their own 
professed religion (the Mahomedan.) I saw so far, 
that they constructed the model of a prow (boat) 
which being filled with rice and other eatables they 
carried off to a river and launched it — saying that 
they had induced the hantus to enter the boat, and 
as they could not travel over water they could not 
get back again. Thus was the forest cleared of evil 
spirits, and, after feasting on the good things pre- 
pared for the occasion, the Malays were ready to 
commence and fell the trees of which they formerly 
had so superstitious a dread. 

In clearing the forest, fears are caused by the 
miasma set free from the vegetation. This circum- 
stance no doubt has been the practical cause of the 
Kinduri and its puerile superstitions. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

EAMASAMY PILLAY. 

Amongst the inhabitants of the Straits of Ma- 
lacca the Klings form a considerable portion. They 
are more money-loving than the Malays, so they en- 
gage more in trade, or the occupations of agriculture 
and gardening. Altogether the Kling is a useful 
member of society, peaceful in his habits, usurious 
and wealth-creating. 

On the estate on which I then resided, Ramasamy 
Pillay, a Hindoo Kling, exercised the office of native 
writer and accountant. He was tall and meagre 
in body, and of dark bronze complexion. He wore 
a muslin wrapper round his waist, and a muslin plaid 
over his shoulders. A red turban of moderate size 
adorned the upper man. When the turban was off 
he displayed a shaven head with a small tuft of 
hair sticking on the crown. He had four or five 
marks drawn with the ashes of cow-dung across 
his arms, and a yellow streak down his brow. 
These were his caste t marks, and he was proud of 
them. 



174 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Eamasamy was attached to his young master, at 
least he frequently told him so ; and were it not for 
the broad effrontery of his adulation and flattery, 
he would have had more credit for them than he 
obtained. It must be admitted that he was ener- 
getic, careful, and laborious, Before pay-day he 
would sit up all night summing up columns of 
dollars, cents, and doits, and he would count over 
the doits (value one-eighth part of a penny) with as 
much care and precision as the large pieces. He 
would also pay out many thousands of these without 
mistake. He would sit up next night to check his 
accounts, and not rest quiet till he had balanced 
them to a single doit. Such were Eamasamy's 
business habits. 

His social habits were peculiar, and created much 
curiosity amongst the Malays. Abraim alleged 
that he peeped through the chinks of the walls of 
the store-room, when Eamasamy was at his dinner. 
Now Eamasamy' s pride was that he was a holy man, 
and could not be seen eating. Further, Abraim 
alleged that Eamasamy ate his food like a cow, from 
off a plantain leaf laid on the floor. He used 
neither fingers, nor forks, nor even chop-sticks, but 
ducked down on all fours till his mouth reached the 
food. This may be true or not, for Eamasamy dis- 
played great secresy and mystery as to his times of 
meals. 

He would say to me, "Tuan, I am very soochi 
(chuchi, or clean) ; I live entirely on vegetables ; I 



RAMASAMY PILLAY. 



175 



touch the flesh of no living animal ; I am of a high 
caste, next to the Brahmin; I cannot mix with 
Malays or other races, hut I keep myself apart from 
all. My brother's wife cooks my food, and I go 
to her every night for my next day's meals." 

Eamasamy was a widower, without children, so 
he was lonely in his condition, and his habits were 
ascetic. Ramasamy's brother's house was at Sungei 
Puyoh, a distance of five miles, and the way to it 
was through scrub infested with robbers and wild 
animals ; yet did this lonely Hindoo trudge over 
the distance morning and evening, after the labours 
of the day, and during the dark, guarded only by a 
long dirk, which he clutched in his right hand, 
ready for defence. 

Eamasamy had been a court vakeel (law agent), and 
he was fond, as many of his countrymen are, of the 
excitement of the law courts. It was to him what 
pirating is to the Malays ; every art was legitimate, 
from false swearing to bribery ; and it seems to 
have given an agreeable change to the generally 
quiet tenor of his life. The most improbable suits 
were concocted, the witnesses instructed, and the 
whole web of evidence rehearsed before the appear- 
ance at court ; so the chances were sufficiently 
doubtful to create suspense in hope or despair. A 
horse-race could not be more exciting to an Eng- 
lishman than a disputed plea to Ramasamy. 

Abraim had a female relative, the mistress of an 
European gentleman. Abraim was proud of this 



176 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



" high connection," as it did not militate against his 
religious or moral creed, he being a Mahomedan. 
Now Abraim, while he laughed at Kamasamy's 
mysterious habits, which were the subject of much 
curiosity, had a great respect for his legal qualifica- 
tions, and was desirous of enlisting them in a law 
plea that his female relative was engaged in. Ba- 
rn as amy rejected the service with some disdain, with 
the remark that he was the agent for European and 
native gentlemen, but he would be sorry to serve a 
female of that description. I looked at Abraim ; he 
was the picture of fury. He neither stamped nor 
foamed, but his eyes sparkled fire, and grasping his 
kris, he was about to bury it in the breast of the 
trembling Hindoo, when he was laid hold of by the 
bystanders, and led away. 

I have mentioned that Eamasamy lived on vege- 
tables solely. His temperament proved this. I 
recollect well, while going over some accounts with 
him, that I happened to touch his fingers. Oh, how 
cold, cold, that touch was ! — how clammy, unfeeling, 
toad-like ! — my hot young blood recoiled from the 
contact ! Not long afterwards, I was sitting read- 
ing one evening in the corner of my verandah, when 
I heard a soft step approaching me. T looked up : 
it was Eamasamy, leaning against the wall, close 
by me. I saw at once that something was up ; so 
I asked him what was the matter. He looked 
cautiously about him, and said, " Master is alone ?" 

" Yes," said I, " what of that?" 



KAMASAMY PILLAY. 177 

" Master is lonely ?" 

" Well," said I, " what's the matter ?" 

" Master must not be angry." 

" Well," said I, " out with it." 

" I have got a very handsome niece, — a beautiful 
girl of fifteen." 

e< You are fortunate, Eamasamy," said I, half 
suspectingly. 

" I am a poor man j — would master not like to 
simpin satu buda? (keep a youth.) She is yours 
to take." 

I was now fully enlightened on the object of his 
solitarv errand. 



N 



CHAPTEE XXXIII 



NATIVE CONNECTIONS. 

I never saw my intended. These things are 
managed in the Far East by the young ladies' 
guardians. Their desires are not consulted. As I 
am not writing my own history, I am not called 
upon to set forth my own feelings on the subject. 
Ramasamy's toad-like touch, a few days previously, 
may have done wonders to subdue any thoughts of 
so desirable a relationship. Or my young imagina- 
tion may have portrayed the young lady to be an 
Indo-Malay, of handsome features and elegant form, 
as many of that class are. It is strange that the 
tastes of Europeans become modified by the climate ; 
and what would repel them in their own land, does 
not do so in the tropics. The putih Icuning, panjang 
nipis (olive complexion, and tall and slender form), 
so much extolled by Malayan poets, are attractive 
to the Europeans ; and the etam manis, eloh sangat 
(nut-brown colour, most beautiful) of the popular 
Malayan songs, is even as attractive as the other, 



NATIVE CONNECTIONS. 



179 



to those who have long been habituated to the cli- 
mate and the people. 

Whatever way it may have been, it is not likely 
that I would have portrayed, in my fancy, Eama- 
samy's niece as a squat figure, flat-nosed, black and 
filthy. These fancies pertain not to the hot young 
folly, but cool old wisdom. It is now many years 
since that happened — yes, more than a quarter of a 
century ago. I am now a married man, and have 
my little ones growing up about me ; and even 
now, after that long period gone by, I think that 
this was an important epoch in my life. To have 
formed the connection offered, would indeed have 
been obnoxious to the social and religious system 
in which I had been nurtured, in my native land ; 
but it would have been quite in keeping with the 
manners and customs of East Indian society of that 
date. 

So I may repeat, that, as I am not writing my 
own life, I need not state how far religious or moral 
reasons may have influenced me at that time ; but 
I may say that, added to any feelings I may have 
had on these grounds, I had an unbounded^ love for 
home. I worked almost alone for one object ; and 
that was to return to my countr} r . At the time I 
am now writing about, I was yet in my teens ; 
reflection, even then, kept desire within bounds. 
Notwithstanding that English mothers have the 
same prejudices as the mothers of Macedonia of old, 
I utterly abhorred the unfeeling conduct of many 

n 2 



180 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



of my countrymen in the East, viz., in the abandon- 
ment of their children by native mothers. Such 
conduct relieves the perpetrators from their entangle- 
ments, and so may not affect their worldly fortunes ; 
but to abide by the course which honour, duty, and 
humanity dictate, has the effect of tying down all 
but the very wealthy, to the country for life. 

Whatever my motives or feelings may have been 
in this affair, these need not prevent me from ana- 
lyzing Ramasamy's. A black man's motives ! — are 
they worthy of consideration? Yes, he had his 
motives and feelings nicely weighed, and well 
balanced ; so let us try him. 

He was a Hindoo, — so had no knowledge of the 
virtues of monogamy. These are best known to the 
natives of temperate climates. He would, no doubt, 
have liked to have had his niece married. I know 
he would ; and to be the wife of a respectable man 
of his own class. But this object was not attainable. 
What then ? Was he to marry her to a poor man 
of his own caste ? This would make her a drudge 
and a slave for life. Worse than this ; there was 
no security in marriage. She might have been 
thrown back on his hands, at the option of her 
husband. He resided in a country where his cus- 
toms were not respected, nor his laws enforced. 
Could he marry her to a man of another caste ? 
No ! — this was repugnant to his laws, and theirs. 
Could he make her the concubine of a man of 
another caste ? Yes. This was admitted by his 



NATIVE CONNECTIONS. 



181 



customs and laws ; so he offered her to the white 
man. Concuhinage with the white man was infinitely 
preferable, in his op 'nion, to marriage with the poor 
Hindoo. It was equally legal ; nor did it involve, 
as in Europe, social degradation, to him or to her. 
He was astonished at my rejection of his offer ; and 
the subject was never mentioned again. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE FIRST CHINESE WAR. 

Lord Auckland had taken fright at Russia, and at- 
tempted to forestall that nation's influence beyond the 
Punjaub, by occupying AfFghanistan. The British 
army found itself entrapped, and was utterly exter- 
minated. This dire event shook the Indian empire, 
from one end to the other. Every nerve had to be 
strained to repair the lost prestige of the Company's 
arms. The resources of the East India Company were 
severely tested ; but, as in their other difficulties, a 
" happy-go-lucky " fortune maintained them. Mean- 
while our difficulties with China came to a head. 
The Chinese officials fostered the opium trade, while 
at the same time their government prohibited it. 
Commissioner Lin, with true Oriental amiability, 
only beheaded one thousand of his countrymen 
daily. No doubt he was actuated by similar humane 
feelings when he destroyed one and a quarter mil- 
lions' worth of British property, for the sake of the 
health of his loving countrymen. Be that as it 
may, let historians decide. McCulloch's ill-natured 



THE FIEST CHINESE WAtf. 



183 



suggestion, that the motives of the Chinese govern- 
ment actually lay in the desire to restrain the export 
of the precious metals required to buy the opium, 
is not worthy of notice. So we will pass from these 
minor themes of Great Britain and China, to the 
major theme of Pulo Pinang. 

If the events of the Affghanistan war vibrated 
across the little island, the China war shook it to 
its core. The Chinese population tied up their tails 
with ineffable contempt ; and they at the same time 
laughed in their long sleeves. " What !" said they, 
" the English are numbered by tens ; the Chinese 
are numbered by millions ! Preposterous ! The 
great Emperor will sweep them from off the face 
of the earth !" I recollect well, standing on the 
granite walls at Tanjong Tokong, with my China 
friend, Chan Ghian, when he suddenly espied the little 
"Diana," a Company's steamer of 160 tons burden 
and 40 horse-power, rounding Pulo Teecoose. The 
" Diana " was the first steamer constructed in East 
India. She attained the great speed (at that time) 
of five knots an hour, and was commanded by the 
redoubtable Congalton. Her fame was great, as 
she had lately encountered a formidable fleet of 
pirates, and smashed them, — but more of this by- 
and-bye. 

" There," said I, "Chan Guan, that is what will 
do it !" 

c< Ah ya" said he, with incredulity, " we have 
tvonkangs (junks) ten times larger than that; and 



184 



LIFE IN THE FAE EAST. 



we can put great wheels to them, moved by a 
thousand men, which will run over that little thing 
like an alligator over a mud-fish !" 

" Chan Guan," said I, " you are ignorant : that 
little vessel is moved by a hikmat (contrivance) you 
know nothing about ; it is moved by the most 
powerful of agents, asap ayer (steam), which far 
transcends the power of mankind." 

This Chan Guan met by incredulous indifference ; 
he was not to be persuaded. Said he, £< Let your 
fleets anchor in the river of Canton ; we have divers 
that can live below the water for three days ; the 
Emperor will send them to horeh lobang (make holes) 
in your ships' bottoms, and sink them. It is sheer 
infatuation of you English to think of making war 
with the Central nation. I will admit that you 
English are clever at fighting; but our numbers 
will smother you. If you kill 10,000, the Emperor 
will send other 10,000. He has no end of men !" 

Chan Guan forgot that these men had legs, and 
that by these means they would run away from the 
English. 

Not long after this, a low, black craft made her 
appearance. This was the " Nemesis " steamer, com- 
manded by Mr. Hall, a Berwick man, now well 
known to fame. Hall's masters were great; so 
could afford to be generous. Congalton's (a North 
Berwick man), were small-hearted and jealous; so 
they were niggard to a zealous servant. 

The commander of the " Nemesis " was proud of 



THE FIRST CHINESE WAR. 



185 



his achievement in having brought out his craft 
round the Cape of Grood Hope, — and well he might 
be ; nor was he lax in displaying her powers. He in- 
vited the European society of Penang on board, for 
a trial trip. As a humble iota of that society, I was 
there, and, with others, felt convinced that the 
" Nemesis " had got a man that could well handle her. 
He run her close along the north beach ; turned 
her in all directions, shooting through the junks 
and native craft, and, at last, backing her stern on 
to the sandy beach, he landed us over the taffrail. 
This was a mimic rehearsal of future great actions. 

The next phenomenon that appeared at Penang 
was a full European regiment (the Cameronians). 
These remained a few days, full of life, energy, and 
hope. Alas ! we followed with our inquiries the 
fortunes of the friends we then made. How melan- 
choly their fate ! England's gallant men sank from 
disease in the stagnant marshes of Chusan. Fleet 
after fleet, and troop after troop, followed. But why 
should we count these ? England's cradle rocks that 
the infant may live, grow big, go abroad — and die, 
wrestling for wealth or glory on a foreign strand ! 

And what was Penang doing ? She was not 
sentimentalizing; she was speculating. Her citi- 
zens were utilitarians. An order came down from 
Bengal for the chief civil authority to buy up all the 
grass that he could lay his hands on. He had the 
finest grass-park in the island himself; so he de- 
clared grass to be four times its previous value, and 



186 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



with the other park-owners, "made hay while the 
sun shone." His salary was small — only 2400/. per 
annum, — so windfalls like this were not to be de- 
spised. Another order came down to buy up all the 
cattle. These also were declared four times their 
previous value ; and the merchants and planters of 
Penang ransacked the Malay peninsula, its padangs 
and prairies, for the cow and the buffalo. The result 
was that an immense herd of lean, fleshless speci- 
mens of the bovine race were shut up to starve in 
the government lawn at the Tanjong (Point). The 
chief civil authority was all smiles ; he expatiated 
on his smartness in having collected such a mob of 
bones, averaging, with calves included, 10/. a head. 
Little did he think that there was a spy in the 
camp, and that Sir Herbert Maddock intended to 
pay Penang a visit. The times of Warren Hastings 
were not yet run out. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



SIR GEORGE BONHAM. 

Mr. Bonham was a good specimen of a Company's 
Governor. Young, liberal, and affable, lie was 
exceedingly popular amongst the Europeans, whom 
he entertained frequently. His plum-puddings were 
good, so was his champagne, and as these found 
their way to the stomach, so were the hearts of his 
friends taken captive. With a considerable know- 
ledge of mankind, he united a shrewdness in arrang- 
ing his policy. His efforts were exerted to keep things 
in easy train, and, like a sensible man, make them 
pleasant if he could. Mr. Bonham had been a quar- 
ter of a century in the Ear East, and had drawn to 
himself many friends and supporters. He had a 
great deal of c< bonhommie " about him. He was 
honest, upright, just, and generous — as a great man 
ought to be. It is a pity that such men should be 
dangerous to the liberty of the subject ; for the 
latter part of Mr. Bonham's rule had a tendency 
that way. 



188 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



As the Supreme Court of India has always been 
a bore to the government of India, so was the Court 
of Judicature of the Straits to the Straits govern- 
ment. Though the governor ex-officio was president 
of that Court, and the resident councillors were co- 
adjutors of the Recorder, the acts of the Government 
were sometimes questioned by the lawyers, and 
especially in the case of native pleas ; this interfer- 
ence was neither palatable nor respectful to a de- 
spotic government. At best the presence of a recor- 
der was a troublesome affair to the civil authorities. 
The Recorder, being an English lawyer, trained to 
English law, and imbued with what Indian officials 
would call its subtleties, he was thought by them to 
be intractable in cases where governmental policy 
was considered by him to run counter to law and 
justice. To have the Government policy thwarted 
by an English Court, especially in the cases of native 
Indians, was felt to be humiliating to the govern- 
ment of the Honourable East India Company and 
their servants. Indeed it was offensive to them. 
So the Court of Judicature must be got rid of, to 
make things more pleasant to the ruling class, and 
Sir William Norris, the then recorder, a man of 
small calibre, was easily worked upon. He was 
lazy, and it might save him trouble. The first step 
of the programme was unfolded to him by Mr. 
Bonham — that was to admit no more lawyers to the 
bar. This chimed in well with Sir William's pri- 
vate feelings, and he supported the motion, so it was 



SIR GEORGE BONHAM. 



189 



decreed that Her Majesty's Court of Judicature was 
henceforth, to be without a bar, and that Her 
Majesty's subjects were not to have the advantage of 
counsel ! 

Now Sir William Norris took ill, for want of 
employment, and asked leave for a few months' 
absence. This was readily granted, as it gave an 
opportunity to unfold Mr. Bonham's next measure, 
viz., the abolition of the Eecorder himself. For Mr. 
Bonham not unreasonably argued when we have got 
rid of the lawyers, what good can there be for a 
Eecorder ? So to make this consummation patent to 
his supporters and admirers, he held a Court himself, 
which he constituted on the most simple principles 
of common sense and equity. Queen's law was 
voted a bore, so it was to be abolished. Having 
empannelled grand juries and petty juries, Mr. 
Bonham despatched the criminal sessions in one 
fourth of the time that the Eecorder ever had 
done. This was highly gratifying to the jurors, as 
it detained them so short a time. Thus Mr. 
Bonham was voted four times more clever than the 
Eecorder, and they hung a Malay that session to 
prove the assertion. 

So far, things went on swimmingly ; fortunately 
no Europeans were hung, or the case might have 
been different. Sir William Norris meanwhile 
returned to his duties, and so saved any mischief 
from actually taking place. About this time a young 
lawyer made his appearance from the capital of 



190 



LIFE m THE FAR EAST. 



India, and sought admission to practise at the bar. 
This was refused. The refusal was peremptory, 
and not to be questioned. Our young lawyer, true 
to the instincts of his profession, questioned the 
dictum and persevered. 

During the five months of Mr. Bonham's judge- 
ship, great causes had been smouldering, and had 
now burst forth. The seree farmer felt himself 
aggrieved by the East India Company's officials, and 
went to Court. The seree farmer was a Kling, so 
loved law, we will not say justice. He had not the 
pleasure of counsel, and, while the Court without 
lawyers clung to a common sense verdict, the Kling 
clung to law as his right, and would not be satisfied. 
Case upon case, and complaint over complaint, 
crowded into the young lawyer's chambers ; but he 
was powerless : he dare not approach the seat of 
English justice, appointed by Her Majesty's minis- 
ters. What was to be done ? He hit upon another 
plan, he laid the seree farmer's case before the tri- 
bunal of public opinion. He wrote in the papers. 
Here the cause was argued to the full vindication of 
the seree farmer. The Eecorder sat aghast as he 
read the morning's luminary. Mr. Bonham foamed, 
and the old Registrar shook his goose-quill. He 
volunteered to be the champion of the Court, pro- 
mising to blow the chaff back to Calcutta. A furious 
onslaught was made on the rejected advocate. He 
was surely squashed ? No ! column after column of 
the Penang Gazette, and page after page, bore witness 



SIR GEORGE BONHAM. 



191 



to his pertinacity, if not to his rights.- The old 
Registrar was palled by the volubility of the admi- 
rable Crichton, yet he was foolhardy, and fought a 
sinking cause with desperation. This did not avail ; 
for the young lawyer clearly beat the pugnacious 
old Registrar off the field, and showed, to a laughing 
community, in not over reverend sentences, how the 
old man was like a child playing at draughts, his 
right hand playing against his left. 

In the arena of public opinion, the battle of the 
law against what is sometimes called common sense, 
was gained. The whole island took up the young 
lawyer's cause ; and a monster petition was pre- 
sented in full Court for his admission. This Mr. 
Bonham shirked, to the last ; but his common sense 
came to his aid, and he gave in. With an ill grace, 
he allowed the law to have its course again. The 
young lawyer was admitted only as a special favour, 
and he was to be the very last; but as the dramatis 
personam shift frequently in India that very last was 
only applicable during Sir William's short tenure of 
office. It came to pass that the bar was in due 
time recognized in the manner it ought to be. It 
is the great defender of the rights and liberties of the 
people ; sag to the contrary who may. 

Mr. Bonham as an upright man, judged according 
to his lights, forgetting how power might have been 
abused by an incompetent, or dishonest successor. 
As a good Company's servant, he was desirous to 
relieve his Government from the heavy burden in the 



192 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



cost of maintaining an imperial Court of Judicature, 
in which he saw no use, when such men as himself 
and Thomas Church were there to perform the 
offices of judges of the people. Mr. Bonham retired 
from the charge of the Straits government, respected 
and beloved by all who were so fortunate as to have 
access to him. With him was not found any of the 
repulsive hauteur of the Bengal civilian. He had 
sufficient pomposity to tell of his high position. 
His fine grey hair gave dignity to an otherwise 
not very aristocratic physiognomy. He had a 
snub nose, a stutter, and a lisp. Yet his upright 
carriage, and amiable jocularity, sank these, and 
displayed his gentlemanly qualities, amongst 
which a high sense of honour was not the least 
conspicuous. 

He held broader views of the responsibilities of 
government than most of his compeers. His 
masters, in sinking trade, had taken on themselves 
the burden of higher aspirations. The extreme tena- 
city of patronage, which was a monopoly stringently 
enforced, he cast aside, as far as he dared. He still 
admitted his free countrymen to respectable offices in 
the public service, and seeing this, several gentlemen 
of good birth and education resident in the Straits 
were induced to serve the Company's Government. 
With the retirement of Mr. Bonham, an alteration 
of policy took place towards these gentlemen. A 
policy which, while it did gross injustice to the 
parties concerned, who had given up other prospects 



SIR GEORGE BONHAM. 193 

for those then offered by Governor Bonham, at the 
same time involved the abnegation of all local 
merit. 

Mr. Bonham was afterwards created a baronet for 
services in China. 



o 



CHAPTER XXXYI. 

THE NONIA OE NONA. 

The Nonia of Keddah, or the Nona of Malacca, means 
lady. But with Europeans, or with natives con- 
versing with Europeans, the term signifies native 
mistress. The white wife of a European is termed 
mim, a corruption of ma'am or madam ; had he a 
coloured wife, she would be termed bird; and had 
he a coloured mistress, she would be called nona, or 
nonia. The concubine of a Chinese or Malay would 
be termed gundih. The lower order of Malays talk 
of their better half as their perampuan, or woman, 
as do the lower classes of the English. The origin 
of the term is the same in each language, and 
it is plainer and more practical than first thought 
indicates. 

Before the advent of English ladies, the nona 
held a conspicuous part in the social economy of 
Penang. Their influence ramified the whole fabric. 
So great was it, at one time, that governmental inter- 
ference was thought necessary. One of the early 



THE NONIA OR NONA. 



195 



governors of the settlement, in a rather lachrymose 
despatch to the Supreme Government, bewailed the 
fact that the nonas of Europeans were monopolizing 
all the best building sites on the northern beach — 
a state of matters tending to disconcert the equani- 
mity of their white rivals, on appearing in the arena. 

The nona may be Chinese, Malay, Javanese, or 
Balinese ; so long as she is yellow, or copper 
coloured, she does for a nona. She may be Maho- 
medan, Hindoo, or Buddhist ; so long as she is not 
asked to marry, she need not be a Christian. On 
rare occasions, she may be asked to legalize her con- 
nection with the white man. In this case she duly 
becomes a good Christian, and attends church, 
sitting some five or six seats behind her white lord 
and master. 

The nona is clothed in rich silk sarongs, and 
flowing white cabayoos. She waddles in wooden 
clogs, held to her feet by a wooden peg, which sticks 
up between her great and second toes. Her rich 
black hair is thrown back, and knotted behind, 
where it is secured by round-headed gold pins. 
She has no other head-dress than that which nature 
has given her. This would be envied by a western 
belle, and her dark sparkling eye illuminates a 
countenance that tells of passion more than of 
intelligence. Her gait I have termed a " waddle 
this is partly owing to oriental ideas of gracefulness, 
but more owing to the weakness of muscle and 
flexibility of joints. Her arms swing as she pro- 

o 2 



196 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



ceeds, owing to the same causes. Thus her carriage 
is not prepossessing. Her features are small ; nor 
do they bear the impress of thought or mind so 
striking to the oriental when he first views the 
western lady. When seated on mats, or supported 
by the luxurious cushion — that is the time at which 
the nona appears to most advantage ; for the soft- 
ness of manner, so congenial to those who suffer 
from the languor caused by the climate, proves too 
frequently seductive. The Mongolian features are 
by no means tasteful to the European, — small, square, 
and flat — but these characteristics are much subdued 
in the women ; and, in some instances, are not appa- 
rent in any great degree. Where the coal-black 
eye is large, and the face oval — and I have often 
seen such — the nona is a beautiful specimen of the 
gentler sex ; so it is not to be wondered at that the 
friendless, lonely, yet wealthy European should 
sacrifice at her shrine. 

The nonas had their circles, their visitings, their 
scandal, and their gossip. They might not indulge 
in tea parties ; but they had their pic-nics, and 
seree, and betel conversations. Their European 
lords and masters were few, so they were held in so 
much the greater estimation. The habits of each 
were critically canvassed. The faithless had their 
due amount of censure, for the nona, as a whole, was 
faithful to her partner, whether for the time being, 
or for life. 

When I say " for the time being," I must explain 



THE NOMA OR NONA. 



197 



that the stay of many Europeans in the settlement 
was short ; so in this case the engagement was tem- 
porary. On their departure the nona was either 
handed over to a friend and successor, or she had to 
cast her nets again. The children of such connec- 
tions had most varied fortune. Some were owned, 
educated, and reared in the lap of luxury ; others 
were left to their fate. In the case of female chil- 
dren thus left or abandoned, the fate was sorrowful 
indeed. The mother or nona, according to her 
instincts, reared her female children for the money 
she might make by them, and the best fate was that 
they might be the purchase of a wealthy man, else a 
hideous career was in prospect. When I say " pur- 
chase," I must explain that the virgin child on 
being given away, brought a douceur to the mother 
of 10/. or 20/. sterling. Such was the moral code, 
a quarter of a century ago. It may be somewhat 
modified now ; but it is inherent in the social system in 
the tropics, so I fear never can be totally eradicated. 
The more abundant presence of European ladies, no 
doubt, has so far had an influence for the better, but 
as affecting Europeans only. On the first arrival of 
a European, he was either introduced to the native 
female circle by a friend, or the native female circle 
would obtain access to him by means adopted by 
themselves. A life of chastity and continence was 
a phenomenon so rare as to be beyond native belief ; 
and the best illustration of these facts will be to 
recount the experience of a young gentleman, whom 



198 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



I knew intimately friend, but who shall be 

nameless. 

The young gentleman was well connected, and 
was possessed of an ample income. His age was 
seventeen. At this time he was sent, like many 
other young men, to manage a plantation away 
from all neighbours. He lived in a bungalow con- 
tiguous to a Malay village, and seldom met his 
countrymen. Such being the case, the nona con- 
clave concluded that he was a good match, and that 
it was improper for him to live a life of solitude and 
depression. The queen of the nonas, an old lady of 
sixty, was consulted. She was a person of great 
experience, having had intimate converse with one 
of the former governors, and several of the original 
leading merchants. So it was decreed that it was 
unbecoming of the simple young gentleman to de- 
spise her and her society. But how was so shy a 
young man to be approached ? This delicate affair 
was left to the old queen. 

One day as the young gentleman was eating his 
tiffin (lunch), his servant brought in a bottle, which 
he said an old lady wished him to accept of. Now 
to his innocent ideas, there was nothing wrong in 
accepting a bottle from an old lady. The bottle on 
inspection was seen to be full of sugared hilimbings 
(an acid fruit). It was really very kind of the old 
lady to think of him ; so the present was accepted 
with many thanks. Next day, while partaking of 
the fruit at lunch, an old lady was announced as 



I 



THE NONIA OR NONA. 199 

being desirous of an interview. " By all means, 
her present is very palateable, ask her to step in." 
So in steps a respectable looking old Malay lady, 
who curtsies to show her acquaintance with Euro- 
pean manners. She is soon seated, and addresses 
the young gentleman first as tuan (master), and as the 
damp wears off, as anah (son). At last she invites him 
to come and see her, as she has a play with her family • 
in one of the houses of the village. She departs, and 
sure enough on the young gentleman looking out of 
his portico, he sees thirty or forty young native 
damsels sporting about the house indicated. 

Home associations had yet strong power over 
him, and he instinctively sees the impropriety of 
the acquaintanceship, and avoids further intercourse. 
The old lady calls again, and is repulsed. Petrified 
and confounded, perhaps not a little enraged at 
seeing her amiable plot cast to the winds, she de- 
parts with her young charges ; but she leaves one 
of the most experienced, and fortunately for my 
friend's independence, one of the plainest, to remain 
in the nearest house and watch and kill if possible. 

The young lady left was a Malayo-Chinese girl. 
There she sat from hour to hour, and from day to 
day, watching every movement of the young man. 
If he went to bathe, she would peep through the 
trees to spy him. If he sat in his verandah, she 
sat opposite in her serambi, hoping to catch one 
sign of weakness or the most minute token of soft 
desire. Her pertinacity was astonishing; for from 



200 LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 

month to month, and even for years, this was her 
sole object. But it was of no avail. All things 
must have an end; and so had this enterprise of the 
Malayo-Chinese girl also a conclusion, by the re- 
moval of the mysteriously unfeeling young man to 
another and distant settlement. 

One would have thought that hope would have 
been blighted within her yearning breast. ~No — 
love burns not to be quenched. So remarkable had 
been her determination that she bore his name, and 
was known by it ; but of what avail ? After a while 
she followed him, and by bribing his native ser- 
vants, gained access to his porch. Here she stood 
waiting, with some papers in her hands, till the hour 
of his appointments would bring him. out. Punc- 
tual to his time he descends. She rushes forward 
and places the papers in his hands. What were 
they ? Mere waste paper — an excuse for the en- 
counter. He quivers like an aspen leaf, but stern 
resolve overcomes, and the poor creature sees him 
no more. 

Such are the episodes in human life. Amidst 
sunshine there are many cutting cruel blasts. The 
children of passion know not, nor understand not, 
the energy that binds the son of the cold north to 
his destiny. Each weighs the other by their own 
standards, so their actions are inexplicable. By 
our standard their actions are lewd, immoral, and 
wicked. By their standard our actions are cold, 
prudish, and unfeeling. 



CHAPTER XXXVIL 

RETURN TO SINGAPORE. 

The many associations which connected me with 
Penang were at length to be left behind. A so- 
journ of upwards of three years had been full of 
novelty. I was now entering manhood, and, with it, 
stepped into another sphere of action. The natives 
no longer prattled their little complaints and trou- 
bles, and I no longer found myself unconsciously 
sympathising deeply with their humble life-dreams 
and anxieties. Perhaps, too, my new avocations 
led me to less intimate converse with the natives, 
and more into the emporium of strangers. There 
was more of distrust, and less of confidence in the 
white man. 

Singapore, at that time, was a town of 30,000 
inhabitants. These consisted of nearly every na- 
tion of the earth ; at least one or two of every 
civilized nation were to be found there, but the 
Chinese and Malays predominated. The European 
part of the town was studded with handsome man- 
sions and villas of the merchants and officials. The 



202 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Chinese part of the town was more compactly built 
upon, and resounded with busy traffic. The Malays 
lived in villages in the suburbs, and their houses 
were constructed of wood and thatched with leaves. 
In the Chinese and Malay quarters, fires frequently 
broke out, spreading devastation into hundreds of 
families. 

The roadstead was covered with European, Chi- 
nese, and Malayan vessels, in which the constant 
hum of commerce rang, and the question natu- 
rally arises, how was this conglomeration of divers 
tongues, creeds, and nations held together ? I will 
try and sketch the internal economy of the settle- 
ment. 

The Europeans, who were the dominant race, did 
not number many. Those on shore might be two 
hundred in number, those in the shipping would 
number not more than four to iive hundred. Oc- 
casionally the presence of one of Her Majesty's 
frigates might double that number. The Europeans 
were principally following mercantile pursuits, and, 
as a body, they were upright, honourable, and 
stable. Their word, in those days, was as good as 
their bond, and the consequence was — confidence. 
No banks had yet appeared, so each firm kept its 
own iron safe, The Europeans were, at that time, 
social and hospitable. At the hour of 6 p.m. a 
general rendezvous was held at Scandal Point, 
where the news was rattled over, and affairs of 
interest discussed. The various married couples 



RETURN TO SINGAPORE. 



203 



would pass and repass the assembled group in their 
conveyances, and at times they would stop to speak 
to acquaintances. All were known to each other, 
and, on the whole, society kept on good terms. 
The more general advent of European ladies gave a 
better tone to the morals of the community than in 
other parts of the Far East. Notwithstanding 
this, much of the old leaven remained with some of 
the original settlers, merchants, and officials. Thus 
gambling and other " fashionable vices " were in- 
dulged in even amongst the highest circles. 

But how was it with the other tribes of the com- 
munity ? Gambling was almost the only pastime 
of the Chinese, and cockfighting of the Malays. 
True these were forbidden, but only by law, not by 
practice. The consequence was that murders, ar- 
sons, thieving, pirating, and heinous crimes were 
rampant amongst the natives. Gang robberies were 
so common as to be of nightly occurrence, and each 
neighbour, as he lay down to rest, wondered if his 
house was to be attempted that night. The Euro- 
pean houses were only on rare occasions attacked. 
This security was owing to the number of servants 
retained on the premises. But the poorer Eurasians, 
Chinese, and Klings suffered greatly. The robbers 
were principally Chinese, belonging to a secret 
society called Tan Tae Hoey — a society feared by 
all Governments having Chinese as a portion of 
their population. 

The Company's Government, being based on 



204 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Asiatic principles rather than European, lent great 
facilities to this disordered state of matters. The 
revenue was absorbed in paying exorbitant salaries 
to the higher officials, which left nothing to pay the 
working ones. Thus, while the governor received 
5000£. sterling per annum, the real head of the 
police had a salary of only 60/. sterling per annum. 
What could be expected ? The chief of the police 
kept pace with the governor in accumulating an 
independence. And how was this ? Gambling, 
to which the Chinese were inordinately addicted, 
was forbidden by law, but, by the amiable and lax 
condescension of the governor, it was allowed to be 
carried on universally over the settlement for a 
period of fifteen days at the time of the Chinese 
new year. The object of this laxity was always a 
myth to me. At this period every opium shop had 
its gambling apparatus exposed to view, and all 
tribes, Europeans included, dived into the satur- 
nalia. The town resounded with merriment and 
strife, alternately. The nights were consumed in 
debauchery, the days in sleep. The vice of gambling 
was openly encouraged by the opium farmer, and 
winked at by the Government, as tending to increase 
the returns of the revenue. This fifteen days of 
excitement redoubled the zest for the forbidden 
vice. But, though forbidden, did it cease ? No ! 
Some of the leading officials drew great rents from 
these gambling houses. The vice was covertly 
allowed by the police. Not that the chief of the 



RETURN TO SINGAPORE. 205 

police would take bribes, no, his Presbyterian pre- 
judices would not admit of that, but his wife being 
of another persuasion, took them for him ; and, 
curiously enough, such shops as had forgot the 
monthly fee to the lady, were sure to be set upon, 
and their owners hauled by the tail before the 
magistrate, who would fine and imprison them 
without suspecting the " wheels within wheels." 

I have stated that murders were the consequence 
of the general laxity of the Government ; and, in 
doing so, I give the results of my own observations. 
I had not been two days in Singapore, before I 
came across the dead body of a Kling, lying across 
the public road, within half a mile of the town, with 
his throat cut from ear to ear. I had not been there 
six months, before I fell across five human beings 
weltering in their blood, lying also on the public 
road, two miles out of town ; and, in four years, I 
counted twenty bodies of murdered men on the 
public roads, all within a few miles of the town. 
And, if so, what may have happened far off from 
these roads ? These facts may aid a suggestion 
which will be horrible enough. An instance, in 
particular, made my hair stand on end. It was 
before dawn that I was riding through a gloomy 
forest which then shaded one of the northern roads, 
when suddenly my horse started at the yet warm 
and mutilated body of a Chinaman, lying across the 
road. The marks of the death struggle were yet 
fresh. I was shocked and horrified at the sight, 



206 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST, 



and being unarmed, turned my horse's head to the 
open country with all possible speed. 

To give the reader an idea of what Singapore 
was twenty years prior to my own time, I will 
make a few extracts from the autobiography of 
Abdulla Moonshee : 

" Soon after Mr. Crawfurd (the famous historian), 
became resident at Singapore, news spread abroad 
that the Chinese of the Tan Tae Hoey, whose 
haunts were in the interior of the island, intended 
to attack the town, for these people were very 
numerous, there were thousands of them. 3 ' 

Abdulla continues to say that he visited their 
haunts in disguise. He characteristically tells how 
he disguises himself as a Malay beggar, carrying with 
him only " a rupee's worth of pice, a small knife, a 
pencil, and a piece of paper." I will not take a copy 
of his adventures here, so after he returned safely 
from his expedition, he goes on to narrate what hap- 
pened in town. It was to this effect, " that about 
two hundred Chinese had come down to Campong 
Glam, armed, with their faces blackened, their 
march lighted by torches. They robbed the house 
of the Roman Catholic priest (the poor old, amiable, 
Padre Mia). The priest had no one in his house 
but his cook, so the robbers bound him hand and 
foot, and gutted the house of all his valuables. 
Efforts were made to recover the property, and one 
Chinaman with a blackened face was caught. He 
was brought to the lock-up ; but, on the following 



RETURN TO SINGAPORE. 



207 



night, two or three hundred of his armed comrades 
came into town, and breaking the prison doors, 
released him. The European constable escaped by 
the windows, and the native ones all ran away, to 
save their lives." 

The next affair mentioned by Abdulla is the ran- 
sacking of the Doby Ghaut by two or three hundred 
Chinese. The policemen ran off, leaving the dobies 
(washermen) to the mercy of the robbers. The 
robbers tied the householders to the posts, and 
carried off all they could lay their hands upon. 
The neighbours dare not open their doors to see 
what the noise was about, for, on one door being 
opened, the owner's two fingers were immediately 
chopped off. When the robbers had made off, then 
assistance came, but only to find boxes opened, and 
property scattered about in the greatest confusion. 
The householders were released, and the people 
commenced quarrelling. " At length the police 
came, and pretended to search and investigate ; but 
God knows they were all so terrified that they wished 
themselves unborn." 

In this way matters remained. Sometimes every 
night, sometimes every other night, robberies were 
committed, till a consummation arrived, by the 
cannon in the battery, sentry, musket and all, dis- 
appearing, never more to be heard of. A Siamese 
junk was attacked in the harbour, and all the crew 
killed, except four, who saved themselves by jump- 
ing overboard. On the police visiting the junk, six 



208 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



or seven of the crew were found to he dead, covered 
with wounds, and the deck was daubed over with 
hlood. 

To these narratives, of which the above are short 
abstracts, Abdulla adds : " I shall not enlarge further 
on the conduct of the Chinese Tan Tae Hoey. In 
Singapore they were exceedingly licentious, and did 
as they pleased, without regard to decency or civil- 
ized manners. How many lives of the servants of 
God, how much property, did they unj ustly take ! 
There were hundreds of houses robbed which I 
have not noticed, indeed I have only given a very 
slight idea of what they did. Nevertheless the great 
men who governed the country remained quiet, satisfied 
with their evening drives, their well-covered tables, their 
well-lighted houses, and their salaries of thousands of 
dollars every month. They allowed the Chinese to 
tyrannize over an English country ; in this way the 
Company's (E. I.) property was toasted in paying 
salaries only."* 

The sentences in italics are remarkable as indi- 
cating the opinions of an intelligent native gentle- 
man who wrote thirty years ago of occurrences 
prior to that period. They were opinions that wise 
men would have done well to weigh ; but I fear if 
they attracted notice it was only to excite a smile of 
contempt. 

It was not till the year 1843 that the East India 

* The above I have extracted from a portion translated hy Brnd- 
dell, Jour. E. I. Arch. 



RETURN TO SINGAPORE. 



209 



Company's Government were forced to a measure 
calculated to promote the public safety. No doubt 
the measure had great opposition from the mono- 
polizing bureauocracy which governed India. This 
measure was to place a responsible officer at the 
head of the police. But the choice of a man ? 
there's the rub. The office was a very responsible 
one, involved hard work and active attention by 
night and by day. It was beneath the regard of a 
civilian of the privileged class, and the next to that, 
a Company's military officer competent for the 
office could not be found. The office required tho- 
rough acquaintance with the native languages, and 
of the manners and usages of the inhabitants. So 
this distasteful alternative had to be taken, viz., 
to appoint a free English gentleman* to the office. 
Free Englishmen entering the East India Com- 
pany's service were saddled with the lugubrious 
designation of uncovenanted. This to the religious 
British ear will sound as something like the unre- 
generated. It had certainly nothing to do with the 
" solemn league and covenant" against which Cla- 
verhouse made such fierce warfare. But reserving 
this subject for future elucidation, I will proceed to 
say that a gentleman of high principle and honour 

* This term requires explanation. A free-trader in India was an 
English ship of London or Liverpool, not belonging to the East India 
Company, nor in their service. A free merchant was one who traded 
on his own account ; and a free Englishman was a private person, not 
under bond for service to the Government, such as planters, merchants, 
barristers, storekeepers, &c, &c. 

P 



210 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



accepted the charge of the Singapore police. He 
was a gentleman who moved in the highest circles 
of the place. Being uncovenanted, this gentleman 
was nominated deputy superintendent of police, the 
object of the prefix being to guard against the pre- 
cedent of an interloper being created full superin- 
tendent, which might have the effect, in a minute 
degree, of interfering with the regular service. Such 
were the narrow sectarian barriers which the East 
India Company set up against the employment of 
educated Englishmen residing within the limits of 
their charter. 

Now highly qualified as this gentleman was, he 
was paid one quarter of the salary that would 
have been offered to the lowest official of India 
House nomination, and one half of what wo aid 
have been offered to a military cadet. Nevertheless 
he soon put the police into such a state of discipline 
that the bye-lanes and forests became more safe 
than the streets of the town were under the former 
regime. Gambling was put down with a strong 
hand, piracy abated, and gang robbery was utterly 
eradicated. Such were the services of Thomas 
Duncan, Esquire, a man 'of great delicacy of feeling, 
benevolent disposition, high social powers, being 
a fine singer, a jolly companion, and a universal 
favourite. 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 



TERUMBO MYET. 

Terumbo signifies coral reef, and myet a corpse. 
The name is not a pleasant one, for one of the chief 
dangers in the Straits of Singapore. Notwithstand- 
ing this it bears happy memories to me. It was 
while lying off this reef that I first obtained the 

friendship of the late Captain Samuel Congalton of 
the Honourable Company's steamer " Diana." His 
friendship lagged not during his life. He was sent 
out by the Government to place a beacon on this 
shoal, so we lay there at anchor for about three 
weeks. And how was the time spent ? Let us 
linger over the recollection of these happy hours. 

The weather was delightful ; the sea as smooth 
as glass, the air never disagreeably hot ; so, with 
the jolly company of the captain, how could we but 
enjoy ourselves ? We anchored close to the lee of 
the shoal, — and let us look around. To the west- 
ward, the Carimons reared their blue woody peaks ; 
to the north, the low shore of the Malay peninsula 
could be descried, the bushy heads of the jungle at 

p 2 



212 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



times just peeping above the horizon. Beyond that, 
Grunong Poolai reared its long back. To the east 
and south, countless islands studded the view ; — here, 
sandy, glittering in the sun ; there, grassy ; yonder, 
rocky. Some covered with dense jungle ; others 
adorned with pine apple and chumpada gardens. 
These gardens were yet unexplored. The mysteries 
of their mazes were attractive to my young spirit. 
Would the captain gratify my curiosity ? Oh, yes. 
Here was the jolly-boat, and a crew of seven Malays 
to go where I liked. What could have been more 
liberal and enjoyable than this ? 

At early dawn next morning, the unmistakeable 
odour of the coral reef was apparent. We are all 
astir. Taking a hurried taste of hot coffee and bis- 
cuits, we then pulled off to the reef. It was found 
to be an oval patch ; and the beacon was to be built 
at the east end. This I will leave to the gallant 
captain ; it being a monument of his skill. I myself 
proceed over the reef, with my usual useless idleness, 
and view the wonders thereof. Here I fell across 
the gigantic cockle, which old Dampier correctly 
says would dine two hundred men. At times these 
cockles measure four feet in length ; but those we 
found here did not exceed fourteen to sixteen inches. 
Here again I stumbled over the black slug, called 
butu kling by the Malays, — a characteristic term 
but not translatable into English. Again, I spy 
the babi laut, a black ball, bristling with needles, 
which it is almost death to touch. I keep clear of 



TERUMBO MYET. 



213 



them, while I admire their tender structure. The 
slightest touch breaks the venomous spears to pieces. 
I walk over corals of all descriptions, forms, and 
sizes, enough to fill twenty museums. We get into 
the boat, and row round the reef. Here, in the 
clear pellucid water, we espy the most delicate 
branchy corals I have ever seen, and thousands of 
fishes sporting amongst the marine grottos. And 
how beautiful the colours of these fishes ! They 
rival the birds of the adjacent coasts in brightness 
and variety. Green, blue, yellow, and purple. The 
scene is enchanting ! 

But the tide rises, and eight bells are struck — a 
sound that gladdens the heart when the appetite is 
good ; and we return on board. The captain is proud 
of his morning's success. He saves his honourable 
masters, the East India Company, three thousand 
dollars, which was the tender of a contractor for the 
beacon. We dress, and are soon seated at his hos- 
pitable table, covered with well-prepared Oriental 
dishes. The curried fowl is splendid ; the red-fish 
and romynia pickles delightful. Our captain teases 
his pet ape, and his tame otter ; and he jokes and 
spins yarns about all parts of the world. After 
breakfast, the jolly-boat is at my service ; it is 
well laid in with provisions and water, and I pull 
to the labyrinths of Pulo Pecee, in search of 
novelty. Noon finds us anchored under a shady 
mangrove. We had landed at a village ; and having 
bought abundance of sugar-cane, plantains, aud 



/ 

■ 

214 LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 

pine apples, the Lascars enjoy a feast to their heart's 
content. Evening warns us to return ; and we get 
alongside after dusk, well satisfied with our pull 
amongst the narrow intricacies of the wooded 
islands, and our sail amidst the gentle zephyrs 
which now prevail in the Straits. At eight bells, 
spirits, water, and sherry are placed on the table, 
which, having been discussed, we retire to an early 
rest, after the constant exercise of the dav. The 
above is a specimen of the daily routine, which was 
varied by excursions in different directions, such as 
to Pulo Salook, for a shot at the wild pigeons, or 
to a passing free trader, to obtain news from home 
or India. Few can imagine the soft soothing enjoy- 
ableness of such waters who have never seen them. 

Sunday being a day of rest, all the Lascars would 
be dressed out in their best suits, and the deck 
would be as clean as a new pin. No more than a 
short visit to the beacon was indulged in. It had 
now reared its head considerably above the waters. 
The captain was a Presbyterian of very liberal 
range ; yet, belonging to the Established Church of 
Scotland, he had not forgotten his old prejudices 
against the Seceders, towards whom he let off what 
little spleen was in his nature. His contests with 
Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta, had been frequent, 
while that high episcopal dignitary was travelling 
as his passenger over his diocese. The Bishop's 
idiosyncrasies, which brought gravity and gaiety, 
sacredness and profanity, solemnity and mirth, into 



TEKUMBO MYET. 



215 



too close and jarring proximity, had much of Con- 
galton's good-natured criticism directed to them ; 
and many were the laughs his friends had at his 
descriptions of the peculiarities of the earnest, 
simple-minded, good Bishop. One day, an excellent 
devilled fowl was placed on the table. His Lordship 
was asked what he would take. Looking around 
at the various dishes, he at length asked the captain 
for a piece of his enemy ; — a bit of clerical wit that 
Congalton's quick and humorous perception enjoyed 
intensely. 

The Bishop had morning-prayers on the quarter- 
deck of the steamer, when he made all joining in 
them kneel on the bare deck, against the skylights. 
This pulled rather stoutly against Congalton's strict 
Presbyterian reminiscences. It would have also 
been a very strange sight for his Malay crew, to 
see their captain in such a position ; so on such 
occasions he always got out of the way, on the plea 
of shoals ahead, or compasses out of order. The 
good Bishop was annoyed at this, and would argue. 
Congalton would half excuse himself, half palliate. 
He would do anything rather than be rude ; at the 
some time, anything to avoid going down on his 
marrow-bones before his native crew. He would 
tell the Bishop that Presbyterians prayed standing. 
They could come to no satisfactory understanding. 
The Bishop was nettled, at times ; the captain was 
obdurate. At length the Bishop, to clear up aH 
scores, said, cc See, Captain ; look at that brass wheel 



216 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



of yours ; one spoke is my religion, the next one is 
yours ; don't they both go into the same nave ? — 
So let us be friends." Congalton was a man who 
could appreciate such an amiable proposition. " The 
Bishop was a brick at bottom," said he ; " he is 
made of the right stuff!" 

Congalton was famous for his dinners, and the 
most admired of his dainties were his soups. The 
ladies always praised them, and asked how they 
were made. Congalton was innocent of the art, 
but he always had an answer which excited the 
risible faculties of his friends. 

" Why madam," Congalton would say ; " there is 
nothing like an old tough cock for making soup ; 
and I always keep several for this purpose." 

" Indeed, Captain !" was the exclamation of his 
fair inquirers. His naive wit and bluff tenderness 
made him a great favourite with the ladies. 

He, however, died a bachelor, poor fellow ! 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

CAPTAIN SAMUEL COMxALTON. 

Congalton's memory will be cherished by many 
friends in the Straits. He was a brave and gene- 
rous British sailor to the back-bone. His actions 
would have gained him an admiralship, and the 
service would have been proud to adopt him, had he 
not had the East India Company between him and 
Her Majesty. As it was, the Anglo- Br ahminical 
Government gave no hopes for such a man. He 
was officially entitled to plain master ; he had U.C. 
placed behind his name in the Government Gazette, 
and though he served his masters faithfully for 
thirty years, he did not belong to the service as the 
Bombay marine was termed. He died in harness, 
as many more sons of British mothers have done ; 
the effect of neglect, climate, and want of facilities 
for recruiting health by leave of absence to his 
native country. Poor Con gait on ! 

Congalton for many years commanded an armed 
cruiser belonging to the East Indian Government, 
and in such capacity the general public called him 



218 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



"captain;" and, as such, so would Samuel Johnson. 
He was in constant active service, first in command 
of the " Zephyr " schooner, then the steamer 
" Diana," and latterly the " Hooghly." He cruised 
about the Straits and China Sea, against the Malay 
pirates ; and many were the encounters he had, 
from first to last. The service was one of great 
danger ; and, though death in it might not have 
been thought glorious, the more credit to him who 
braved death for the sake of the safety of his fellows. 

He had, in his early days, a hand-to-hand fight 
with a nest of pirates in the Muda River ; and then 
he proved that his sword was wielded by a firm and 
dexterous hand. Many were the chases, in open 
sea, and not a few pirates he brought to condign 
punishment, whether in the heat of action, or by 
carrying them prisoners before the calm but awe- 
inspiring power of the law. He frequently accom- 
panied Her Majesty's ships of war as consort ; and, 
by his thorough knowledge of the Malays, their 
craft and haunts, his presence was invaluable. His 
services in this respect met frequent acknowledg- 
ment. He fought his vessel in several actions when 
so consorted, besides he was frequently employed in 
the more dangerous and arduous duties of boat 
expeditions up the rivers. In such services he had 
to run the risk of being shot by hidden enemies 
concealed behind mangrove bushes. Such long- 
continued services, under a tropical sun, were surely 
worthy of admiration. A miserably weak govern- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL CONG ALTON. 



219 



ment might dislike such a man ; a great and gene- 
rous one would have cherished him. Let us see how 
he fared. 

On May 18th, in the year 1838, Her Majesty's 
ship " Wolf," Captain Stanley, was cruising on the 
east coast of the Malay peninsula. When lying in 
a dead calm, a Chinese junk was descried defending 
herself from the attacks of six large Illanoon pirate 
prows. The man-of-war lay helpless to succour, 
but, by noon, the Honourable Company's steamer 
" Diana," Captain Congalton, was observed in the 
offing, approaching the " Wolf." Captain Stanley 
sent a gig and jolly boat to her, with orders for the 
"Diana" to proceed towards the junk (it appears 
from this that the Company's steamer was subordi- 
nate to the " Wolf"). The steamer " Diana" came 
up with the pirates about four in the afternoon. On 
seeing the smoke, the pirates thought it was a 
European vessel on fire, so quitted the junk and 
bore down on the steamer, and fired on her as she 
approached. # " But they now had a different sort 
of enemy to deal with, and the steamer stopping 
her paddles as she came opposite to each prow, and 
being able to get her guns to bear with terrible 
effect, poured in a destructive fire, stretching the 
pirates in masses on their decks. The headmost 
and largest prow, however, maintained a fierce re- 
sistance, protracting the contest till half-past six, 
when she was boarded in a half sinking state, which 

* See Journ. Bast Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. 



220 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



afterwards rendered it necessary to cut her adrift 
from the ' Diana.' The other five, favoured with a 
breeze, hoisted sail, and edged away to the south- 
ward with the steamer in chase, and closing upon 
them, when darkness coming on enabled them to 
effect their escape, in which they were further 
assisted by the tempestuous weather which suc- 
ceeded. But it is believed from the shattered and 
disabled state to which they were reduced by the 
severity of the 4 Diana's ' fire, that they would be 
under the necessity of abandoning several of their 
vessels, and embarking their diminished numbers in 
one or two of the least roughly handled. It was 
observed that, in the pursuit, scarce any of the 
prows could muster more than two or three paddles 
a side. The prisoners we understand acknowledged 
to 360 men being on board the six prows, of whom 
90 men were killed, and 150 wounded, 30 being 
prisoners on board the 'Diana,' eight of whom were 
desperately wounded." 

Let Englishmen judge of this action. Here was 
a small steamer of 160 tons burden in charge of a 
British captain, and manned by his two European 
officers and a native crew of thirty Malays. This 
small steamer had in tow two men-of-war boats, 
in which sat their crews, and in which situation 
they could take no part in the fray. Congalton 
frequently averred this to me personally. His 
own officers and crew manned his own ship, and 
fought his own guns, while he towed the gig and 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL CONG ALTON. 



221 



jolly-boats of the man-of-war, containing their re- 
spective crews, astern, ready no doubt to act as 
British seamen ought to do, had they had an oppor- 
tunity. Thus this small steamer, under the com- 
mand of Captain Congalton, attacked six formidable 
pirate prows, filled with brave and desperate men, 
the terror of these seas. The action must be ad- 
mitted to be a gallant one. What of that ? Next 
month the Journal of the Indian Archipelago tells 
us that Captain Stanley was presented with a sword, 
value 100 guineas, by the mercantile community 
of Singapore, and besides he was entertained at a 
public dinner e The editor adds, " It must have 
been an inadvertence that no public testimony was 
given of their appreciation of the services of Captain 
Congalton of the ' Diana.' " Yes, I have always 
thought the neglect was scandalous, in the case of 
such persons as the merchants of Singapore ; but, 
to tell the truth, there was no proper public opinion 
in those days. The Company's governor had great 
influence with the few leading men, and Mr. Bon- 
ham, who then held the reins, would have his 
sympathies enlisted against Congalton, whatever 
his judgment might be. 

Now though Bob ordered Tom to go and lick big 
Bill, surely Bob had no credit by the deed. Yet it 
was decreed that Bob should have all the credit in 
this case. Stanley ordered Congalton to go and 
smash the pirates, which he did accordingly, and 
Stanley not only got all the credit of the action, 



222 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



but he was paid handsomely for it besides. Stanley 
claimed 20/. sterling a-head for each pirate that 
Congalton killed or took prisoner, and he got it too. 
Under what plea this price of blood? this plea — 
that two boats' crews, being under Congalton's 
protection during the action, were consequently 
present — a truly flimsy argument for absorbing both 
credit and gain. But such was the case. Stanley 
took all. He would have given Congalton and his 
crew a portion of the prize-money, but the lower 
grades of his officers and men would not hear of it. 

This action added great eclat to the laurels of 
the "Wolf!" It was the first check that the for- 
midable Illanoons had received. It cleared them 
from off the seas entirely ; and, though it does not 
rival Sir James Brooke's great deeds for the East, 
it initiated a new state of things. The cruel and 
formidable fleets of marauders no longer dared 
beard the European settlements to their teeth. No 
longer could they ransack the coasts for plunder 
and slaves. The first man that met them with an 
energy that paralyzed them, certainly was Captain 
Samuel Congalton. 

I have said Stanley claimed 20/. a-head for 
each pirate destroyed or taken by Congalton ; this 
he did under a law relating to piracy in the Medi- 
terranean and West Indian seas. The law decided 
in the favour of his claim. So far, no fault can be 
found ; still I hold that equity and fairness would 
indicate that he had no claim. General principles 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL CONGALTON. 



223 



would have advised Stanley and his officers not to 
have touched that thing which a brave and unre- 
warded man had earned for them. I trust that the 
officers of the " Wolf" gave their shares away in 
charity. 

While brave in war, Con gait on was active in 
rescue of the castaway and the shipwrecked. The 
ship " Sultana," Captain Page, was burnt in the 
China Seas, and the boats took refuge in Borneo. 
Here they were most inhospitably treated by the 
Sultan of Borneo, who plundered them of all their 
property. The Singapore authorities, on being 
made aware of the circumstance, despatched Captain 
Congalton and his steamer to the rescue ; and on 
arriving at the place he managed, by his delicate 
tact and firm bearing, to rescue all the unfortunates 
from the clutches of the savages. To estimate the 
difficulty of the undertaking it must be mentioned 
that castaways such as these were accounted as pro- 
perty or slaves of the Sultan and his nobles ; that 
Borneo at that time was unvisited by British men- 
of-war, and their power was unheeded, and the Sultan 
was the most powerful prince in the neighbouring 
seas. Captain Congalton performed his mission to 
the entire satisfaction of the Straits Government, 
and to the gratitude of the persons rescued. The 
position of the castaways was of the most harrowing 
nature. The captain, to save his daughter from 
the harem of the Sultan, had to feign being her 
husband, and the long-continued fear of such an 



224 



LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



impending misfortune at length drove the young 
lady distracted. 

The "Diana" was the first steamer that had ap- 
peared in Borneo ; and, as such, was an object of 
great curiosity to the Malay nobles. Crowds visited 
her. When several of the chiefs were down in the 
engine-room to inspect the machinery, it was put 
in motion, to their great horror. They flew on 
deck in the most abject fright, crying out dya 
bergrak ! dya bergrak ! (it stirs ! it stirs !) under 
the impression that it was a living monster, fed and 
provided for in the hold, to move the vessel as it 
was ordered. 

This was not the only mission of rescue that 
Captain Congalton was employed upon. Most of 
the native states were visited for this purpose. Some- 
times to rescue Europeans, but generally natives, the 
victims of piracy. 

He was a man of small stature, but compact and 
active. His brown hair was scarcely showing grey 
at the age of fifty. Though trained as an appren- 
tice in a rough school — that of the Sunderland coal 
trade — he was a man of the utmost delicacy of feel- 
ing, and of high principle. His manners were of 
the old school, — bluntness and honesty happily 
blended with acute perception of propriety. His 
ready and pungent wit rendered his conversation 
animated and engaging. His old saws were too 
good not to bear being told over again. 

When he was gone, his friends in Singapore 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL CONGALTON. 



225 



caused a copy of his portrait to be hung in one of 
the public halls of the city. But as the act met 
the disapproval of the Governor, Colonel Butter- 
worth, it may have since been removed, as that 
high functionary, of small mind, intended the same 
honour for himself. I happened to call on his 
honour shortly after my friend's portrait had been 
hung in the Institution ; and he was very cross and 
ill-humoured about it. The old leaven of monopoly 
held strong to Governor Butterworth ; so he could 
see no merit in one who was not of the Service. 
Strange habit, this ! — the select few yellow-faced 
nabobs holding such contemptuous ideas against 
the worthies of all England ; and yet so long sup- 
ported in their monopoly by the British Parlia- 
ment. Monopoly intrudes its ugly associations into 
our most sacred works, whether they be of respect, love, 
admiration, or hallowed memory. 



CHAPTER XL. 



SUNGEI KALLANG-. 

This is the largest rivulet in Singapore. Upon it 
once stood a sugar-mill; and, once upon a time, 
many joyous hours were spent in a bungalow over- 
looking that sugar-mill. Alas ! how dead, quiet, 
and deserted was that same place long before I left 
those scenes for good ! The interior of Singapore 
had something exciting to the young imagination ; 
and the Sungei Kalian g, at that time, was said to 
lead far into it. Tigers of the largest size roamed 
in the jungles ; and the destruction of life was of 
daily occurrence. The gambier and pepper planta- 
tions, with which the island was studded all over, 
promoted their increase. The gambier plant afforded 
an excellent cover ; and the naked, lusty Chinaman, 
at work in all directions, provided a food of which 
the animal was exceedingly fond. The jungles of 
Singapore were attended with sufficient danger to 
be attractive to the lover of adventure ; and some 
of my Kallang friends had much of this in their 



SUNGEI KALLANG. 



227 



natures. One day I got a canoe, with five Malays, 
to paddle up on a voyage of discovery. Young 

M and B — ■ — were with me, and also Carrol, 

the Canadian. Two were crack shots, and ambitious 

to beard a tiger to his face. B sang Malay 

songs exquisitely, and serenaded the monkeys sit- 
ting on the tall tampenis trees. As we proceeded 
up the stream, we found it covered with tall trees, 
overshading us in a manner that entirely pre- 
vented the mid-day sun from striking us with his 
fierce rays. The palm-trees luxuriated in the fertile 
soil, and the wild nut hung its peach-like fruit over 
our heads. 

Snakes, curled up on the overhanging branches, 
attracted our frequent attention ; and many an 
ugly, wreathing, venomous reptile did Carrol send 
to the bottom with his sure aim. We ascended for 
several hours, till we came to the boat of a Chinese, 
fastened to the bank. Here we stopped and lunched. 
We then fastened our boat, and moving over fallen 
trees, we arrived at a gambier and pepper bangsal, 
with its peculiar high-coned roof. Here we had a 
cup of tea from the hospitable Chinese, and then 
we sallied forth on a trudge through the jungle. We 
found the country undulating ; alternate red hills 
and fat swamps, with large spaces of lalang grass. 
At one spot, near the edge of the great swamp, we 
were struck with the numerous marks of the tiger. 
The ground was actually pattered over with their 
footprints, so much so that we were glad to get 

Q 2 



228 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



away safely from the spot. Life had frequently 
been lost in this neighbourhood. 

The gambier and pepper plantations were not 
devoid of picturesqueness, — though of that rude, 
primitive kind which does more to repel than to 
charm. The Chinese employed were of a rough, 
independent stamp, which generally did not consort 
well with the self-importance of the European. But, 
much as I have been amongst them, I never met 
with inhospitality. Many had become Eoman 
Catholics, who were easily known by an image of 
Christ being fixed in the position of the image of 
the Joss. It appeared to be an easy transition ; more 
practical and less abstract than the transition to 
Protestantism. 

Carrol was a character not often met with in 
these latitudes. He was a French Canadian, and 
had left his country during the troubles of 1838. 
He was a fierce-looking, gentle-hearted man, of 
little worldly knowledge, and given solely to sport- 
ing. To shoot a tiger was his great ambition ; 
and night after night he spent in the woods ; but, 
curious to relate, never met with his desire. All 
other animals, from bears to monkeys, he had killed 
and eaten ; but a tiger, numerous as they were, 

never crossed his path. M partook of Carrol's 

genius also. He sat one night on the top of a 
bamboo bush, watching for the coming of a ferocious 
tiger, known to be in the neighbourhood. He sat 
alone, drinking brandy pawnee^ and smoking, till at 



SUNGEI KALLANGr. 



229 



length he imagined himself surrounded by tigers, 
trying to get up at him to devour him. In this 
state he became so nervous (no wonder) that he 
cursed the ambition that had led him into so horrible 
a scrape. The bell of St. Andrew's struck one, with 
a deadly knell ; he thought all was up. He made 
a frantic leap to the ground, and bated not breath 
till he found himself under the verandah of his own 
bungalow. 

Tigers' heads were frequently brought into town, 
and the Chinese were encouraged, by rewards, to 
catch them in pit falls. When they were success- 
ful in securing one, it was declared a general holiday 
amongst the European residents, who hastened out 
to see the monster, and be at his death. The pit 
would be 14 to 15 feet deep, and a strong frame of 
spars would be seen to have fallen over the mouth. 
Two fiery globes, the tiger's eyes, would be seen at 
the bottom of the pit, and an occasional noise would 
be heard, as of rolling thunder. A long bamboo 
would be poked at the two globes ; it would be 
responded to by the tiger leaping up to the very 
top, grasping the spars, and then falling down with 
a loud, hollow roar. Many bamboos would be torn 
to pieces in this way. Perhaps a real sportsman 
being present, he would suggest fair play, and the 
letting loose of the game ; but this would be over- 
ruled by the more discreet majority. Tired of teas- 
ing the animal, lots would be drawn for their turns 
of shooting. This ceremony being over, shot one 



230 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



would miss, responded to by a spring to the top ; 
shot two, hits, another spring and a deep bellow ; 
shot three, hits the forehead, this quiets the animal 
a little ; shot four, another hit, and the tiger falls ; 
shot five, he revives and redoubles his strength and 
ferocity for a moment, and then falls dead at the 
bottom. Having poked him well with a bamboo, 
and seeing no stir, the lid is taken off and the 
animal hauled up by the Chinese. They sell the 
head to Government for 100 Spanish dollars, and 
the flesh they sell for as much, for medicine to their 
countrymen. The skin may be purchased by some 
of the gentlemen present. Thus would end a safe 
system of tiger hunting — the only kind that I, being 
no shot, ever affected to engage in, with but one 
exception, 



CHAPTEE XLI. 

CAPTAIN WILLIAM SCOTT. 

A well known name in the Far East is that of 
Captain William Scott ; and it is, at the same time, 
associated with the most precious virtues of benevo- 
lence, hospitality, charity, tenderness of feeling, and 
true friendship. He was the friend of many men — 
their name is legion ; and he was a true friend. 
Such was the character of the venerable man whose 
name is at the head of this Chapter. 

Captain William Scott was first cousin of the 
illustrious poet and novelist, and he was a son of the 
pioneer settler of Prince of Wales Island (Penang), 
who was the close friend and adviser of its first 
governor and founder of that settlement. Thus 
connected, and with such personal characteristics, 
he had a great hold on the affections of the British 
in the Far East. His many eminent virtues bound 
his countrymen to him. The kind old man lives in 
the grateful memory of many now surviving. 

He died a short time ago, at the ripe age of 
eighty-three, and the mournful news vibrated over 



232 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



the most distant colonies of the British empire. 
Few tears are generally shed for the old, yet many 
tears were dropped for this patriarch. 

My first acquaintance with Captain William Scott 
was when he might have been entering his sixtieth 
year. He was then hale and hearty, in possession 
of all his faculties. He held several appointments 
in the East India Company's uncovenanted civil 
service, which of course were anything but lucra- 
tive ; and his strict integrity, and carelessness of 
lucre, did not advance his prospects. 

In boyhood he had gone through the routine 
of an Edinburgh high school education ; in early 
manhood he had borne his part as a member of the 
Volunteer Cavalry and Royal Archers of that city, 
which occupations were relinquished for private 
enterprise in the East Indian Archipelago. Mis- 
fortunes came upon his father's house, and his 
father's large estates passed into other hands. 
Young William Scott was thus reduced from the 
position of an independent gentleman, of first-rate 
standing, to become a servant of the great Company 
holding sway in India, and as such I knew him. 

His office habits were regular, though not labo- 
rious. In this respect he fully earned all that was 
granted to him. In his private home, necessity 
required that he should be plain, yet he was as 
generous as his means could permit. He delighted 
in his gardens, and he soon reared about him, out 
of a wilderness of jungle, a plantation that was the 



CAPTAIN WILLIAM SCOTT. 



233 



admiration of every one, whether in regard to its 
variety, scientific regularity, or fertility. 

All species of fruits, native and exotic, were found 
in the area of his plantation. The purple cocoa 
dropped its fruit beside the aromatic nutmeg. The 
graceful betel-nut tree stood out boldly from amongst 
the maze of rambutans, dukus, and durians. The 
sea island cotton flourished here, the gamuti palm 
tree there, the arrowroot yonder — how much more 
could not be detailed ? And, in the early dawn, the 
old gentleman would be found cutting, planting^ 
altering, and amending his complicated arrange- 
ments, which no one could unthread but himself. 
As it was, his garden afforded one of the most pic- 
turesque, shady, pleasing retreats that possibly 
could be imagined, illuminated as it was by the old 
gentleman's lustrous blue eye, his silver hair, and 
warm, hearty welcome. 

His visitors were at once invited to partake of 
some of his rarities, — these might be a cup of 
Mocha coffee, Manilla chocolate, a tumbler of cocoa- 
nut milk, or varieties of fruit, all of which were his 
own production ; and skilled was the old gentleman 
in describing the manner of rearing each object of 
his attentive care. 

At table he was excellent company of that quiet 
intelligent class, that spurns not the good things, 
but " maketh merry and rejoiceth/' His strong 
constitution enabled him to be freer with himself 
than many younger men, but he was never 



234 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



known to exceed a quantity he conld perfectly well 
bear, without injury to health or the remotest 
offence to propriety. In the times of Sir George 
Bonham, he was a constant guest at Government 
House. Sir George's experience could appreciate 
the value of such a man, in an isolated society, such 
as that of the Straits ; and he felt that his noble 
hospitality was graced by the presence of the cousin 
of Sir Walter. 

But times altered — it came to pass that a Pharaoh 
rose up, who "knew not Joseph." The son of a 
shopkeeper was promoted to the government of the 
Straits settlements. A compound of ignorance and 
pomposity, such as Governor Butterworth was, 
could not be expected to appreciate genuine worth ; 
so Captain William Scott fell a sacrifice. Under the 
habits of the good old times of Sir George Bonham, 
Captain William Scott, whose office was next the 
Governor's, continued to enjoy his cigar when think- 
ing over the knotty matters of his duties. This 
habit was taken as a great personal affront — it was 
an offence of great magnitude. Under the same 
habit and custom as obtained in old times from 
those of Sir Stamford Baffles downwards, Captain 
William Scott called at the Governor's office in his 
every day suit of clothes (clean white). This affront 
was mortal. It was worse than a ryot appearing 
before a rajah with the hilt of his kris uncovered. 
So his ruin was determined on. In a despotic 
government such as that of the East India Com- 



CAPTAIN WILLIAM SCOTT. 



235 



pany, this was a matter of great ease. It simply 
required two strokes of the pen by way of recom- 
mendation to the Bengal government, and the first 
intimation that Captain William Scott had of his 
offences was his dismissal, and the arrival of a young 
man with peculiar interest to take charge. The old 
faithful servant was thus ousted, and his means of live- 
lihood swept from under his feet. 

Was there any remedy for this ? I think I hear 
my reader ask with impatience. ~No ! there was no 
appeal ; for appeals I never knew to be successful. 
Eventually, but tardily, a small pittance by way of 
pension was granted him ; but this was no balm to 
an upright wounded noble heart ; he felt the injus- 
tice most acutely, for he had a great deal of Sir 
Walter in him. 



CHAPTEE XLIX. 

GUNONG POOLAI. 

Gunong Poolai has been mentioned before, as rear- 
ing its head in the interior of the Malay peninsula. 
It was the highest land within thirty miles of 
Singapore ; and its very top was coveted by an 
enterprising medical man. Strange that a medical 
man should covet the very apex of a mountain in 
the wilderness ; a few yards at the very top were all 
that he eagerly grasped at. The place was only to 
be arrived at through a dense jungle, infested with 
wild beasts, and piratical Malays — yet these were 
no obstacles to Esculapius. The top of Gunong 
Poolai was to be possessed by him, and the road 
to it was to be made by the East India Company. 
This requires explanation, otherwise my history of 
events might be seriously misbelieved. 

Bengal is a sickly region, and the English of 
Bengal get away from it as fast as they can. The 
sickly require medical advice, and medical men thus 
make money. Now Singapore was thought to be the 
very place for the yellow Bengal civilian to come to, 



GrUNONG POOLAI. 



237 



for the sake of the great benefit to be derived from 
the advice of the eminent practitioners settled there. 
Again a cool sanatarium, in the upper regions, 
within reach of the consulting chamber, it was 
thought, would give additional inducements most 
desirable to the grand scheme. Gunong Poolai 
stood out of the Malay jungles, and nobody was 
making any use of it, so our doctor pitched upon it 
as the very spot for making an easy and rapid for- 
tune. True it was thirty miles away from all civi- 
lized conveniences, and true its paths could only be 
traversed by the jakun and the tiger. These were 
no obstacle to the Doctor. His Anglo-Saxon energy 
pictured villas, hotels, billiard-tables, bakeries, and 
soda-water manufactories on the very top of his 
elysium, and mail-coach roads lively with busy 
traffic to it. I was one of the party induced to 
accompany the Doctor to the coveted spot, and I shall 
endeavour to give a full, true, and particular account 
of the wonders of this terra incognita. 

We ascended the river Sakodai as far as a boat 
could take us, and then made our way on foot 
through the jungle, till we came to a few Malay huts. 
Here we stopped for the night ; and, next morning, 
piloted by some Indian convicts, we made for the 
mountain. We walked all day over a difficult 
country, and it was evening before we arrived at 
the small hut on the mountain constructed for our 
use by the convicts. The party consisted of several 
Europeans, and a good number of natives. Young 



238 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



W- M and I reached the top first — he 

ascribing his agility to whisky — I mine to water. 
The others lagged behind, overpowered by fatigue 
and thirst. The Doctor was carried up in a fainting 
state by the natives, but he and we all found our- 
selves pretty comfortable after a meal of hot rice 
and Hoffman's jam. It was dark, so no view could 
be obtained, and we crowded into the hut, talking 
and laughing to wile away the time. A young 
Irishman had brought his violin ; and his light- 
hearted mirth, songs, and tunes, added no little to 
our entertainment. I think I hear his 

" Oh, Widow Macree, 
You are dear unto me — " 

still ringing in my ears. The apes and monkeys 
chattered in concert, and the shrill trumpeter blew 
his loudest notes. Drowsiness at length overtook 
all, and as I lay close to two Malays I listened to 
their interchange of ideas. 

"Who could have made this mountain ?" said 
Dolah to Che Mat. 

Says Che Mat, " It must have been the dewa 
dewa (demigods)." 

Says Dolah, " Yes, perhaps Sri Rama or Han- 
doman." 

" Just so," says Che Mat. 

Says I, interrupting them, " May it not have been 
Tuan Allah (the Lord God) ? " 
" Oh, yes, sir," said they, both evidently ashamed 



GUNONG- POOLAI. 



239 



of their Paganism. They were Mahomedans, but 
had not yet lost the traditions of their forefathers. 

We did not sleep very soundly, but were astir 
early to gaiu the summit, which we had not reached 
the night before ; but when we arrived at what was 
thought the summit, our disappointment was great 
to find that we had been guided to the eastern 
mountain, which is much lower than the western, 
and between which an immense gulph yawned. 
Our thermometer showed a temperature only 5° 
lower than what it stands at on the plain, conse- 
quently we could not have attained above 1500 feet 
of elevation. Our provisions ran out, so we had to 
return that day. By noon we slang our guns on 
our backs and scampered down the mountain. 

Young W — M and I led the van, which 

was the cause of our losing a great treat, viz., an 
encounter with two rhinoceroses ; one of which was 
shot, the other escaped. The dead rhinoceros was 
held to be a trophy of great distinction, so the 
finder got the head by way of precedence, and the 
hind feet fell to my share. What took us a whole 
day to go, only took us four hours to return ; for in 
that space of time we arrived at the Malay village, 
where we slept that night. On the next morning 
we visited some Chinese miners searching for tin, 
but they had not met with success. Leaping into 
our boat again, we descended the Sakodai and 
arrived off Krangee by dark. Here the Doctor and 
T left the party, intending to ride across the island 



240 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



of Singapore, by the road just then newly finished. 
Our horses were expected to be at the first Chinese 
gambier bangsal (gambier works), so we made for it. 

It was now pitch dark, and we had great difficulty 
in groping our way through the close high scrub, but 
at length we arrived at the bangsal, and stood 
before the outer gate. On our first appearance a 
great hubbub took place among the Chinese, the 
cause of which was that they had lately been attacked 
by Malays, so they were more than ordinarily 
alert for such episodes in their backwood habi- 
tation. The bangsal was stockaded round, and on 
the Doctor and I advancing to the gate, the inmates 
evidenced the greatest alarm, and at length set upon 
us with spears and double swords. The Doctor was 
a brave man, so by advancing too closely to the 
stockade,, got nearly thrust through by a spear ; 
fortunately his white dress was seen in the dark. 
He was recognised as an orang putih (white man) 
by the Chinese, who immediately dropped their 
warlike demonstrations, and with great joy opened 
the door and let us in. 

On asking the towkay (head man) about our 
horses, it appeared that they were at the next 
bangsal) so after a cup of tea with the old man, we 
departed, and got the horses at the place indicated. 
A ride of fifteen miles over a good level road 
brought us into town by early morning, and thus 
ended the Doctor's inroad upon the savage wilds of 
the Malay peninsula. 



GUNONG POOLAI. 



241 



The scenery from the top of Gunong Poolai proved 
neither interesting nor attractive. A horrid gloomy 
sameness pervaded the land in all directions, and 
the Straits and islands to the south were too distant 
to give relief to this characteristic. The interior 
was found to be one mass of tall forest, unspotted 
by either prairies or cultivation. To the north our 
view was intercepted by a higher range, but to the 
east we could recognize Lulumut, Sambilayang, and 
Mintaka. The formation was granitic. 

The interior of the Malay peninsula was better 
known to the early Portuguese than to either the 
Dutch or the English, as is proved by their old maps. 
Gray lost his life by traversing the peninsula from 
Pahang to Malacca, but Favre and J. E. Logan were 
more fortunate in making their way over much the 
same ground, more to the southward, without injury 
to their health. 



R 



CHAPTEE XLIIL 

THE JEW OF BAGDAD. 

Theue was an oriental Jewish merchant in Singapore 
called Abraham Solomon, a man of patriarchal ap- 
pearance, and majestic mien — a man who might have 
sat to a sculptor as a model of the father of the faith- 
ful. He dressed in the flowing robes of the East, and 
a large turban covered his head. His complexion 
was fair, his eyes jet black and brilliant, his nose 
aquiline, his brow high ; his hair, once black, was 
now grey, and his beard, the most capacious I had ever 
seen, flowed down over his breast. He was a man 
of large stature, and his arms and legs were propor- 
tionably stout, covered with black hair. Such was 
the personal appearance of Abraham Solomon, the 
Jew of Bagdad. 

He was given to hospitality, and I believe a friend 
of mine and myself were the first Europeans that 
entered his house, and partook of his good things. 
Such being the case, the incident relating thereto 
will not be unworthy of record. My friend was his 
law adviser, which was the cause of our invitation. 



THE JEW OF BAGDAD. 



243 



Abraham Solomon at that time lived in the mer- 
cantile quarter, and his house fronted the Boat 
Quay. At dusk we repaired to his abode, and were 
received with great warmth. Entering the shop 
door, we were taken through the hall and carried up 
to an upper verandah facing the inner court, where 
we found the repast already spread out. The 
table was laid out for four, and our host's brother 
made the fourth. The table was a large round one, 
and we sat in arm-chairs. The cloth was as clean 
as a new pin, and tall champagne glasses stood 
beside each plate. The table furnishings were 
European, in honour of his guests, otherwise all 
was oriental. 

Our host could not speak English, so the Malay 
language had to do duty in our interchange of 
courtesies. It must be admitted that this language 
was a poor medium for so important an occasion ; 
but good feelings and intentions made up all de- 
ficiencies. Our host first pressed us to fill our 
glasses, and quaff a bumper, before commencing on 
the solids, and this was readily acceded to by all of 
us. The viands consisted of capons, mutton, and 
fowls, made up in various well-seasoned dishes, and 
our host was particular in explaining to us that all 
flesh had been most carefully killed by the priest, 
and that all the oil used was extracted from animals 
so killed. He dwelt much on this subject, which 
seemed to him a most important one, and he assured 
us that, during his life time, he had always been 

r 2 



244 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



most rigid in observing the laws of Moses on these 
points, and, in so doing, felt that his life had been 
holy, and his body clean. Meantime, the cham- 
pagne flowed pretty freely, and our host's heart 
expanded. And as he chatted away, his memory 
reverted to Bagdad, and his younger days in that 
city. He spoke in ecstacies of the date, grape, and 
the fig — not obtainable in Singapore. He then spoke 
of his father's house, and the oppressions thereof 
under a Mahomedan government. "At length," 
said he, " the oppressions became so grievous, that 
we had to flee the country. The soles of my feet 
were beaten till they were raw ; for they wished to 
torture me into disclosing treasures that I had 
not." 

Another glass, and our host proceeded, " And 
when I came to an English settlement, I expected 
that the honourable of the land would be honoured, 
but hear, my friends, what I have to say. Business 
took me to the police office, to make a complaint 
before the magistrate. I walked into the common 
hall before the seat of justice, expecting to be 
received, if not with courtesy, at least without 
ignominy. Fancy my astonishment and indigna- 
tion, when two police peons grappled me by the 
throat, tore my clothes, and pulled off my shoes by 
order of the magistrate. I flung myself out of his 
presence with scorn at such treatment. I, who own 
ships, and have English captains in my service, and 
thousands embarked east and west, to be treated 



THE JEW OF BAGDAD. 



245 



as a dog by a red-haired young lieutenant ! — it is 
preposterous ! My friends, do not be angry with 
me for mentioning this while you are my guests. I 
ought not to have done so, as the magistrate is an 
Englishman, like yourselves." 

We sympathised with the old gentleman, and 
fully concurred in condemning his treatment. As 
Europeans, we were willing to find excuses, but I 
fear we failed. When youth and folly sat in the 
seat of judgment, and this was too common a rule 
under the Company's raj, what else could be ex- 
pected ? Pride drove the Portuguese out of Japan 
three centuries ago, this should be a lesson to the 
English. Such ignominies are deep seated, and long 
remembered by the native gentlemen who experience 
them. We have only to judge of ourselves on this 
point. 

The good things soon dissipated what little feel- 
ing ebbed out on this subject. The savoury condi- 
ments, concocted in the inner apartments by deli- 
cate and unseen hands, delighted our palates, and 
restored good humour, while betimes coffee was 
served as a sedative. 

Our host was a leading man amongst his tribe, 
and had much to do with the synagogue. The 
subject of religion was avoided, for he believed that 
the Messiah was yet to come, but he brought out a 
large scroll of Hebrew manuscript, which he said 
was the Mosaic law as read in the synagogue. It 
was beautifully written on parchment, and with a 



246 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



pious, though we thought fanatical, reverence, he 
would not allow us to touch it. My friend was an 
enthusiastic inquirer into the manners, customs, 
and literature of the East. He was not discon- 
certed at this, hut seemed philosophically to study 
our host in the shape of an ethnological subject. 
He looked upon this Oriental Jew as a medium by 
which some dim idea might be gained of the many 
curious facts related in the Scriptures, and which 
the western Christian has no means of unlocking. 

As a case in point, I may relate, that on my 
return from India, I attended a parish church ser- 
vice in a village in the south of Scotland. The 
minister in reading a chapter, came to a verse 
which says, " King David went up to the Temple 
with his keys over his shoulder." The good mi- 
nister, hummed at this, and at length said, " My 
friends, the keys in ancient times were no doubt so 
big that it was necessary to carry them on the 
shoulder." Little did he think that there was an 
Englishman from the Far East listening to him, 
and who had for years been daily accustomed to see 
Orientals carrying their keys over their shoulders 
tied to the corners of their pocket-handkerchiefs, 
the opposite corners being used to carry a little 
seree and betel. 

But to return. Our host's excessive strictness 
regarding the oil that he used with his food is quite 
in keeping with the customs of his countrymen of 
old, as described by Flavius Josephus, who, in talk- 



THE JEW OF BAGDAD. 



247 



ing of the honourable position the Jews obtained 
from the kings of Asia, used this argument :* — 
"That whereas the Jews do not make use of oil 
prepared by foreigners, they receive a certain sum 
of money, from the proper officers belonging to these 
exercises, as the value of that oil, which money, when 
the people of Antioch would have deprived them of 
in the last war, Mucianus, who was then President 
of Syria, preserved it to them." Thus we could 
not but be interested in this native of the region of 
ancient Chaldsea, and note the tenacity with which 
he clung to the customs and prejudices of his fore- 
fathers. 

Herodotus, in describing the army of Xerxes 
about to descend on Greece, proves the clothing of 
the ancient Oriental to be much the same as it is at 
present. The Persians wore on their heads loose 
coverings called tiaras, on their legs loose trousers. 
The Cissians wore mitres instead of turbans. The 
Bactrians wore turbans very much like those of the 
Medes. The Indians were clad in garments of 
cotton, having bows and arrows of cane. The 
Arabians wore cloaks fastened by a girdle. The 
Ethiopians, panthers' and lions' skins. How cor- 
rect would this description appear at the present 
day, must be admitted by Oriental travellers ; and, 
in Abraham Solomon, it was no great stretch of the 
imagination to see a type of an unchanged race, for 
his physiognomy was an exact counterpart of the 

* See "Jewish Antiquities," book xii. chap. iii. verse 1. 



248 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST 



ancient profiles cut in stone, as exhumed by Layard, 
in the country of his birth. It could not be found 
fault with, therefore, that my friend and I, having 
taken our leave (considerably helped, no doubt, by 
the exhilirating champagne), should have thrown 
our minds back twenty -five centuries, and endea- 
voured to portray the times of Necho and Nabopo- 
lassar. We were charmed with the idea that we 
had sat, that night, with the true type of the con- 
temporaries of those great kings of kings and lords 
of lords over Egypt and Assyria. 

I do not mean to speak of our host in unmea- 
sured terms of approbation. As an Oriental, he was 
narrow-minded, and probably fanatic; further, he 
was ostentatious and pharisaical. Having been 
reared under a Mahomedan government, he detested 
their religion because he had come into unamiable 
contact with its professors. With the high con- 
sciousness of the unequalled antiquity of his own 
faith, he patronized the Christian as only one re- 
move from himself, for were not his prophets our 
prophets — his Bible our Bible ? and did we not owe 
this to him ? He might not agree with facile 
Josephus in saying, " Let no one blaspheme those 
gods which other cities esteem as such, nor may 
any one steal what belongs to the strange temples, 
nor take away the gifts that are dedicated to any 
god." The allurements of commerce brought him 
in contact with the cosmopolitan merchants of Sin- 
gapore, and so he may have had some of his native 



THE JEW OF BAGDAD. 



249 



antipathies rubbed off. But this would influence 
him only so far. Though he explained that a 
Christian could dine with him, he was careful to 
remark that he could not dine with a Christian; 
and so our social intercourse ended. For once, his 
company was interesting ; but as it could not be 
repeated on equal terms, I only this time broke 
bread with Abraham Solomon the Jew of Bagdad. 



OHAPTEE XLIV. 

THE EURASIAN FAMILY. 

It will be a matter of interest to see how the social 
system works amongst the descendants of the Bri- 
tish in the Far East, and to gratify such curiosity I 
shall describe my impressions while I boarded in 
the house of a family of Anglo -Indians, now gene- 
rally known as Eurasians. That no confidence may 
be broken I shall not indicate the Settlement. The 
house may have been in any of the three in the 
Straits of Malacca. But it is needless even to men- 
tion this, for a quarter of a century has not left a 
single member of that family a survivor. Alas ! all 
are gone hence. 

The head of the family was of mixed race, but 
educated in Europe. His wife was of pure British 
blood, but was reared and educated in India. The 
husband had children before his marriage by native 
women ; his wife had been married before, and had 
children by both her husbands. All lived together 
in great amity in the same house. Some of the 
children were as dark as Hindoos, others as fair as 



THE EUKASIAN FAMILY. 



251 



Swedes ; but there was this difference made, and 
admitted to be correct on all sides, that the fair 
ones went out to evening parties, while the dark 
ones stayed at home. The fair ones were expected 
to take a leading part, and so were attentively edu- 
cated ; the dark ones were intended for more hum- 
ble usage, and so had little spirit in them. Such 
were the arrangements that a happy Eurasian 
family fell into, without involving dispute or dis- 
agreement. The wife was a daughter of a Pro- 
testant missionary who had buried seven wives, 
and she had lived to bury more than one husband. 
She was a busy, scolding, merry being, proud of her 
pure blood, and devotedly respected by all her 
household, if we may except the white children, 
who were somewhat wayward and unruly. 

Amongst the rest, the husband, poor man ! would 
sometimes get his scolding, which he would bear 
in silence till his better half was out of hearing ; 
then he would call his dark children together 
around him — for there was close sympathy between 
him and them — and then he would give way to his 
injured feelings, muttering complaints against his 
own father, who fell into the disagreeable mistake 
which made him, his son, of coloured complexion ; 
nor did he seem fco be aware of his own mistakes in 
the children now before him. 

The wife, though of pure European blood, had 
more of the native in her than had her husband. 
She talked loud, and malcied (used abusive language) 



252 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



with great gusto in the Malayan language ; and, in 
so doing, she would use expressions which modesty 
should have taught her to avoid. In this respect, 
while scolding her native servants, the freedom and 
license she used was most astonishing. This was 
the effect of her Oriental rearing, no defect of mo- 
rality on her part. It is a habit unconsciously 
derived from the natives, who speak more plainly 
on such subjects than is allowed in English conver- 
sation. Indeed I could not write the words that 
escaped the hps of our hostess. When she spoke 
English, her conversation was always marked by 
due propriety. 

The family was a large one, and the house was a 
merry one. The young Eurasian ladies of the neigh- 
bouring houses would frequently step in during the 
evenings, when the piano would be had in requisi- 
tion to accompany the song or the dance. On these 
occasions the strictest propriety was maintained • 
and I cannot recall to memory the slightest breath of 
scandal connected with any of the gentler sex, who 
illuminated these gay happy meetings with their 
joyous and virtuous presence. Had I not had 
strong home instincts, I could have found a partner 
there ; but it was not to be. Many of the young 
ladies were accomplished pianists and singers, so the 
hours sped fast on these occasions. It was generally 
after twelve or one, before these meetings broke up, 
and pleasant were the moonlight walks while escort- 
ing them safely to their homes. 



THE EURASIAN FAMILY. 



253 



All earthly things have their alloy, and so had 
this house. The family having been long settled in 
the country, held slaves prior to the abolition of 
slavery in the British dominions. Some of the 
slaves still clung to the family. One of them, an 
old woman, had a young daughter, who served in 
the house as ayah (nursemaid) ; now as she became 
marriageable, the lady of the house began to think 
of danger to her elder sons, and the old slave 
woman began to think of the advantage of creating 
a connection with her mistress's family. This 
would be a source of gain to herself, and give her 
ease and comfort for life. Here were conflicting 
opinions with a vengeance. Suspicions, at first 
only suggesting themselves, at length became appa- 
rent, so the ayah had to be got rid of by marriage 
to one of her own kindred as fast as possible. A 
committee of old ladies was held on the subject, and 
Menga was told of her destiny. But, to the horror 
of the mammas, Menga stoutly gave them to un- 
derstand that she would take no one but the white 
son of her mistress. Try as they liked, she would 
have nothing to do with an orang itam (black man). 

I relate these things with no idle object, but with 
the view of clearly illustrating the fragile ground on 
which families of Europeans in the East maintain 
their purity of origin. Climate weakens their ener- 
gies, and deteriorates their moral powers, which are the 
real foundations of their great influence. The cold, 
virtuous, Anglo-Saxon habits, are, by inexorable nature, 



254 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



too surely replaced by self-indulgent patriarchal ten- 
dencies. 

I recollect once meeting with an intelligent 
Dutch civilian, of great experience in the govern- 
ment of the Netherlands India. He assured me that 
a great grandchild of pure European blood, was not 
known in the wide extent of the Dutch possessions ; 
and, further, that it was the opinion of the medical 
faculty, that pure blood could not be propagated 
there. This so much agreed with my own limited 
observations, that I was strongly impressed with 
the curious physiological fact at the time. This 
question has bearings so intimate on what will be 
one of the leading questions in the British Indian 
empire, that I make no apology for introducing it 
here. 



CHAPTER XLY. 

THE DELHI MOONSHEE. 

Being anxious to learn the Hindostanee language, I 
was referred, by my Parsee friend, Pramjee Sorabjee, 
to a tall, gaunt-looking man, with a large turban, 
and long white flowing robes, and engaged his ser- 
vices accordingly. Golab Hussain had been got rid 
of by the government of Upper India, under the 
pretext of sedition; and he had served his seven 
years out before I made his acquaintance. He was 
as different from a Malay, as chalk is from cheese. 
Exceedingly deferential, a smile never lighted up his 
prominent features. Half an hour was always plenty 
of time for making friends with a Malay, or at least 
for knowing him, — a twelvemonth passed over and 
I may say I was as far from the Delhi moonshee's 
confidence as ever. 

He spoke little of himself ; but things oozed out 
at times, which led me to believe that he had, at 
one time, taken an active political part in his native 
land. He was a Mahomedan, with Hindoo instincts. 
In this respect he was not unlike an English Bengal 



256 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



civilian of old standing. He had been a handsome 
man, but careworn furrows now ploughed his face, 
yet an eagle black eye still gave vitality to it. 
With the cringing servile habits of Hindostan, he 
left his shoes at the bottom of the stairs, and walked 
over the rough mats on his bare feet. A leprous 
affection marked his skin with white spots. Let us 
see what his mind was. 

It took days to obtain an idea of this ; but, after 
the tedium of the daily task was over, the light 
topics of the day were generally discussed, and 
then was the time to study my instructor. He was 
well acquainted with the names - and actions of all 
the leading men amongst the English in India, from 
Clive downwards, and he was posted up particularly 
in all their shortcomings. Thus it may be surmised 
that, while he acknowledged them to be hurra 
bahadoors (great warriors), he had no high opinion 
of their general morality. Of Lord Teignmouth, he 
used frequently to relate, with a sneer, how that 
gentleman endeavoured to expunge the most com- 
mon term out of the Hindostanee language. It 
was Mat shore kurro (be silent), a most useful expres- 
sion amongst the gabbling Bengalese. Now ( Shore ' 
was Lord Teignmouth' s family name, and the con- 
stant vociferation of it in every court, lane, and 
street, annoyed him much. So shore had to be 
altered to gurberah in his presence. 

He related much the same story about a civilian 
called Patullo. Now patullo is a favourite vegetable 



THE DELHI MOONSHEE. 



257 



constantly hawked about the streets. This an- 
noyed the great man so much, that he incarcerated, 
whipped, and fined the natives till they learned to 
call the vegetable sayer. This no donbt would hold 
good till a relative of Tom Sayers came, when the 
name would have to be altered again. So much for 
the littlenesses of great Englishmen. 

Apparently the hanger-on of some large English 
garrison of Upper India, he was well acquainted 
with the backstair movements of their households, 
and he took much delight in dilating on this sub- 
ject. The extent of intrigue, immorality, and licen- 
tiousness which he disclosed, astonished me. The 
names of the parties he made no difficulty in dis- 
closing to me, but delicacy would be offended, and 
no good attained, by proceeding further into this 
subject. It was evident that he had a grossly false 
estimate of my countrywomen ; so, with morbid 
taste, he enlarged on one or two unhappy occur- 
rences of notoriety ; and, with a jaundiced and pre- 
judiced view, he was unable to appreciate the virtue 
of the thousand. To the impure, all things are 
impure, and it would have been impossible for him 
to have judged otherwise. So much for the Delhi 
moonshee's estimate of the morality of the English 
women. 

One night I saw the moonshee was very uneasy 
about something ; and, after several inquiries, I at 
length persuaded him to explain his trouble. With 
many circumlocutions, he at length narrated his 

s 



258 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



fears about returning home in the dark. " For/' 
said he, " I ask a thousand pardons, but as the 
Company (meaning the Government of the Honour- 
able East India Company) are in want of heads to put 
below the church tower (St. Andrew's), I am afraid 
to go home by myself." I laughed, and reasoned, 
but, seemingly, with very little effect ; for he still 
contended that natives had gone amissing ; and fur- 
ther, that he himself had seen the bundawan (native 
convicts) chasing some Malay, with the great sticks 
that they felled the dogs with, and everybody said 
it was for the sake of their heads, which are wanted 
for the church tower. 

" Nonsense, monshee," said I. " How can you 
think such a thing of the English Grovernment ?" 

" Oh," said he, " Sir, a thousand heads are required 
for the spirit to whom the church is dedicated, and 
they must have them to keep him in good humour." 

Such was the moonshee's idea of the mildness and 
paternal love of Christianity; and it was a most 
common idea amongst the natives of all classes. 

He was the victim of rumours, and they had a 
great effect on his mind. One night he came in 
great tribulation about the flood that was to take 
place. It had been predicted by some fakeer of his 
acquaintance, and was soon to occur. The whole 
town was to be swamped by a huge wave, and this 
certainly within a few days ; but with the apathy 
of tropical natives, the moonshee made no prepara- 
tions for the great event. 



THE DELHI MOONSHEE. 



259 



I have said the moonshee was a Mahomedan, 
and I may add that he hated Pagans with a zest. 
Towards the Chinese he had a very deep abhor- 
rence, which was particularly amusing. I was 
astounded at his revelations regarding the Chinese, 
and thankful that at least there were worse people 
than the English in this great earth of many na- 
tions, tongues, and kindreds. 

In Hogarth's pictorial histories much that is dis- 
gusting is portrayed, but they are nothing to what 
the Delhi moonshee did suggest that night. Such 
were his views with regard to mankind. How 
typical of his own mind ! 

JSTow why should I relate these things ? Simply 
to show that there was a foundation laid — long, long 
laid in the native mind — for the events of 1856, the 
materials of which consisted of hideous calumnies, infa- 
mous imaginations, blind prejudices, rancorous hatred. 
These were all stored up under the mild obsequious 
garb of the Delhi moonshee and his congeners, and 
ready to burst forth with spasmodic energy on any 
given occasion. (There is great ferocity under the 
smooth skin of the Bengal tiger.) 'Tis thus that I 
account for the barbarous heart-rending massacre of 
the innocent, pure, faithful ladies at Cawnpore, and 
the horrid atrocities that were enacted in other 
parts. 



s 2 



CHAPTEE XL VI. 

THE SERENADE. 

It was a great relief from the every-day business of 
life to get away from Singapore occasionally, and 
this I did as often as I had opportunity. A sail in 
the calm Straits is at all times refreshing, and with 
a comfortable cabin and merry boat's crew, the time 
was pleasantly beguiled. On this occasion I was in 
a small lugger, with ten or twelve Javanese sailors, 
commanded by a Javanese juragon. The wind had 
failed us, so we anchored off the large red cliffs in 
the evening to await the return of tide. The night 
was one of the many calm starry nights which pre- 
cede the setting in of the south-west monsoon. The 
water was as calm as glass, and not a " cat's-paw " 
could be detected on the surface. I laid myself down 
on my Siamese mat, and had been sleeping for some 
time, when I dreamt of sweet sounds, so soothing to 
the yearning mind. These sounds became gra- 
dually more apparent, and I found myself awake. 
I listened with renewed curiosity, and surely enough 
the distant yet sonorous echoes of a Javanese band 



THE SERENADE. 



261 



fell on the ear. So distant did the music appear 
that I fancied the sounds must come from the shore ; 
but this could not be, as we were full two miles 
from the land. I listened again ; there were the 
metallic notes of the gambelang clicking up and 
down from bass to tenor. The full sonorous notes 
of the gong struck in at times, and the tomtom was 
beaten quickly and vigorously. Could there be a 
musical box on board ? No, that could not be, for 
no musical boxes play Javanese tunes. I listened 
now with eagerness, charmed with the unexpected 
treat. I lay some time, and the music ceased, but 
only to renew its soft soothing charms. At length, 
roused to satiate my curiosity, I crept out from 
below the awning, and, to my astonishment, there 
was the old juragon and his whole crew squatted 
round a blazing lamp, drawing up and contorting 
their mouths in all possible and ludicrous shapes ; 
nor was my astonishment abated when I observed 
that the music that so charmed me emanated from 
these same mouths. I laughed outright at the 
clever mimicry. This put a stop to the entertain- 
ment, for the whole crew disappeared, as if by magic, 
into the various nooks of the lugger. 

The Javanese have a naturally full-toned sonorous 
voice, which is well adapted for imitating their own 
native instruments ; and I afterwards learned that 
the native juragon, or captain, was a play actor by 
profession, and that most of his crew followed the 
same calling. Thus they had been accustomed to 



262 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



beguile their long night watches by mimic concerts, 
such as that which had awakened me, and which 
had kept me so long in a state of charmed bewilder- 
ment. 

This scene has always been remembered as one 
of the happy episodes of my long sojourn in the 
Tar East. 



CHAPTER XL VII. 

CAPITAN DONKEK. 

Capitan Donker, known to the natives as " Juragon 
Grumok," was of Dutch descent, a scion of the Ma- 
lacca nobility. I was so fortunate as to make this 
great man's acquaintance on board the gunboat 
No. — , which was commanded by him. She was a 
vessel of twenty-seven tons burden, carried two 
carronades and twenty-seven fighting Malays. The 
capitan was a man of portly appearance, brave as 
an alligator, even though he was entertained by his 
munificent masters, the Honourable East India 
Company, with the handsome pay of fifty rupees 
(5£. sterling) a month, rice and salt-fish included. 
He was a man calculated to uphold the dignity of 
the Straits Government amongst the native traders, 
for whose protection he cruised about the famous 
headland called Point Romania; not that the na- 
tive traders were over-anxious of being overhauled, 
whether for concealed arms, or for sugar, and cocoa- 
nuts, as these latter were sure to assist the Honour- 
able Company's allowance in some shape or another. 



264 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Failing the native trade, the capitan was a man 
clever at devising projects to make his salary keep 
his soul within his shirt. Thus, having twenty- 
seven men at his command, there was no reason 
why they should be idle, so what they could not 
catch from man, they could catch from the sea. The 
rocks were clean and dry, and a fishing establish- 
ment was soon extemporized near either the Diana 
Cove, or Labuan Pahang. These were the capitan's 
favourite retreats, for here his gunboat could lie as 
quietly as in a mill-pond. No rocking or tossing 
here to disturb the capitan's slumbers in the small 
hours of the morning ; and here also were the bays 
full of rare fish, such as the snangan, tingiri, or 
blanah. The crew would relieve each other in 
these pursuits till the capitan had filled the gun- 
boat's hold, when off he would hie to make a ready 
and profitable sale in the bazaars of Singapore. His 
absence was scarcely regretted by the native trade, 
and especially by the Pahang boats, bringing fat 
fowls and turtle eggs to market, for both of which 
the capitan had a peculiar fondness, well known to 
the native traders. 

The capitan was an uncovenanted servant, which 
accounted for the liberal manner in which he was 
treated by his honourable masters. But this subject 
was beneath the capitan's notice, seeing that he 
had such ready tact to take advantage of all con- 
tingencies. I think I now see him sitting on his 
after deck, leaning against his useful gun, a red 



CAPITAN DONKEE. 265 

nightcap on his head, and a pair of drawers on his 
nether man, — his sole and cool man-of-war's suit. 
There he sits on the deck, tailor fashion, with large 
plates of boiled rice before him, curried fish and 
fowl, no end of condiments, supplied to his cabin 
by his old grandmother of Banda Eliar. The 
capitan's conscience was an easy one, so his appetite 
was good. A native of the country, he had not 
the European's torment (dyspepsia) to mar his en- 
joyment. His appetite was great, and his bliss 
supreme, when it was over a great dinner in one of 
the quiet bights near Point Eomania. 

But I had almost forgotten to do the capitan full 
justice. The capitan was paid to put down piracy 
in his cruising-ground, and here his services shone 
conspicuously. The pirates kept clear of his stately 
awe-inspiring spitfire. It was pulled by sweeps, 
and could then proceed at one knot per hour, while 
the piratical boats pulled at the rate of five. Whe- 
ther or not this was a humane arrangement on the 
part of the East India Company, to save their fight- 
ing servants from bloodshed, I must leave the heads 
of the Marine department to answer ; but certain it 
is that it was an arrangement of which Bright, Cob- 
den, and Co. would highly approve, as it was very 
favourable to their pets, the Malay pirates. Under 
the above circumstances, when the capitan met in 
with pirates, they used to ask him to pull hard, and 
they might take pity on him. On such occasions 
it was amusing to see the capitan's fury ; he would 



266 LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 

rage, bellow, and swear, and shake his fist at his 
sworn enemies. His highest ambition was to catch 
pirates, and his most strenuous endeavours were 
made to get them hanged, for they disturbed his 
rest at night ; they interfered with his fishing pur- 
suits ; they buzzed about him like sand-flies ; in 
fact, on all sides they tormented what would have 
been as peaceful a life as is vouchsafed to human 
nature, for Congalton had already cleared the seas 
of the Illanoons. 

I recollect one occasion on which the commo- 
dore was favoured with a glorious nibble at a pirate. 
He was anchored in Labuan Pahang, and, with the 
capitan's permission, some of the crew had landed 
in the bight to search for shell-fish ; when one of the 
Lascars came in a terrible fright, crying perompah ! 
perompah I They were into the sampan in a jiffy, 
and fled ignominiously to the gunboat, The capi- 
tan's great experience detected something wrong, 
so he up anchor and bore down for the bight, loaded 
his guns, and cleared deck for action. When the 
Lascars arrived, the cause was explained in breathless 
haste. A real Gallang pirate prow, with thirteen 
men, was lying concealed behind the rocks. The 
capitan displayed all the traits of a great com- 
mander. Girding on his rusty sword and holster 
pistols, he leaped into the sampan, followed by his 
crew, till the water reached the gunwale, and pulled 
for the shore under the cover of the guns of his 
vessel. On touching the shore, all leaped out and 



CAPITAN DONKElt. 



267 



ran most manfully to the encounter. Alas ! how 
seldom does bravery meet its opportunities ! The 
birds had flown into the mazes of the impervious 
jungle, leaving* their old weather-worn prow, some 
Siamese rice and old mats, as a trophy to the gallant 
capitan, to carry back to Singapore and display to 
the admiring view of his honourable — I will not say 
liberal — masters. Such is life. The capitan' s fell 
on barren ground ; his great deeds bore little fruit. 

Capitan Donker was a man of discretion, as well 
as valour. His sagacity foresaw that something 
must be done for the money his honourable masters 
laid out in maintaining his ship and crew. His 
honourable masters must be convinced of his devo- 
tion to the service ; and his discretion led him to 
adopt a most ingenious plan, well worthy of the 
highest approbation. This thing must be done — 
pirates must be caught, occasionally ; and how to 
do it without risk to body and limbs, — there was 
the rub ! Capitan Donker was equal to the occa- 
sion. His innate sagacity suggested a plan which, 
I am sure, will stamp him as a hero, not even sur- 
passed by Sir John, of merry memory. 

Capitan Donker maintained one or two Grallang 
men amongst his crew, sworn to lead their chief 
into no scrape, and to get him out of them if ill- 
luck would have it notwithstanding. Che Moosa, 
his favourite Grallang pirate, was a pet on board, 
treated to all the dainties, and allowed to sit aft 
and amuse his master in the dull evenings. Che 



268 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Moosa was an old pirate, and, by freaks of fortune, 
was in higher estimation than the honest Malacca 
Malays who composed the crew ; for was he not 
there ostensibly to point out the haunts of the 
pirates, and thus to open a road for distinction to 
his commander ? 

So it was on landing that day. Che Moosa far 
outstripped the capitan and all his crew. Brandish- 
ing his cutlass most manfully, he made alone for the 
concealed sea-robbers ; well-known signals passed ; 
and the band dispersed into the bush. The boat 
was thus taken without resistance, and the gallant 
capitan magnanimously sheathed his sword, launched 
the prize, and returned to head-quarters to relate 
his victories, and to accept the honours due to his 
devotion to the public service. 

And what became of the prize ? This was easily 
managed. It was put up to auction for the benefit 
of the Honourable East India Company, and bought 
in by Che Moosa for a mere song ; and further, it 
was paid for from the proceeds of cured fish and 
Pahang turtle-eggs, benevolently supplied by the 
capitan. The pirate boat was then duly returned 
to the owners, who, having made their way to Pun- 
gerung, arrived at Singapore as soon as the gun- 
boat. 



CHAPTEE XLYIII. 

GOVERNOR BUTTERWORTH. 

My " Glimpses of Life in the Far East," I feel, 
would be incomplete were T to pass unnoticed the 
above official, who held the reins of government for 
so many years, during which I sojourned in these 
regions. In some private letters of Sir James 
Brooke, which were unexpectedly published to the 
world, the above official was dubbed Butter-pot the 
Great — a sobriquet which appeared to the general 
public so apt, that he became better known by it 
than by his real name. 

Butterworth afforded rather an eccentric and pro- 
minent example of an East India Company's official, 
as he was imbued with many of the weaknesses 
which a monopoly of power and honour is sure to 
foster in human nature. When the East India 
Company lost their trade monopoly, they clung the 
more desperately to their governmental monopoly. 
Thus all position, honour, or emoluments were held 
as solely and wholly belonging to the " Service " — ■ 
that is, to the young men appointed at the India 



270 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



House, in Leadenhall Street. The consequence was, 
that not only was the choice of public servants 
drawn from a very limited circle, but the complete 
absence of opposition in the Indian career spoilt 
these public servants. They were placed above the 
public ; they were made secure in their fortunes 
and pensions, and so had no spur to urge them to 
exertion or emulation, or to thorough attention to 
their various duties. The real duties generally 
devolved on free and badly-paid Englishmen, who 
were termed " uncovenanted ;" and it was fortunate 
for the public when this was the case, otherwise 
the duties and responsibilities were handed over to 
cringing natives, who enriched themselves at their 
countrymen's expense, and to the great disrepute of 
the Anglo-Indian Government. 

Governor Butterworth was what was termed in 
the East a hard-working man ; that is, he sat tena- 
ciously in his office-chair from ten to four daily. He 
wrote long letters to the Bengal Government ; and 
was useful so far as his abilities carried him. In a 
country like India, much of the governmental respon- 
sibility is considered to lie in keeping the natives 
quiet, and the Europeans in good humour. The 
Straits Government was a sinecure, in the real sense 
of the term ; for, although in the centre of com- 
merce, it was far separate and divided from any 
powerful Asiatic nations with whom complications 
might arise. Thus, while great events were going 
on in Burmah, China, Java, and Cochin-China, no- 



GOVERNOR BUTTERWORTH. 



271 



thing whatever was going on in the sparsely popu- 
lated Malay peninsula or Sumatra. The Government 
of the Straits was actually of very small importance ; 
so the Grovernment of India came to the conclusion 
that any one would do for it. Hence Butterworth, 
without any knowledge of the language, of the 
natives, or the remotest idea of the political state of 
the Far East, was appointed governor — and that 
over two eminently qualified civilians, Blundell and 
Church, whose claim (seniority) was considered, up 
to this time, unquestionable. 

Church, as the senior, according to practice should 
have succeeded Sir George Bonham ; but unfortu- 
nately for him, as was currently reported, Sir Her- 
bert Maddock had found out that he did not give good 
dinners. This difficulty was felt to be insurmount- 
able. Then Blundell, as the next, had not been suffi- 
ciently subservient when employed as Commissioner 
of Tenasserim, so he could not be thought of. Other- 
wise he was well qualified, having always been in the 
habit of giving good dinners. The eminent sagacity 
and great experience of these two high civil servants 
had no weight ; so Butterworth was thought of by 
Lord Ellenborough, who accidentally met him at 
the Cape of Good Hope. Butterworth's good for- 
tune was ascribed by the public, partly to Lord 
Ellenborough' s penchant for red coats, partly to his 
admiration of portly figures and humble toadyism. 
Above all other considerations, the Bengal Govern- 
ment were aware of Butterworth's dinner-giving 



272 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



propensities. The members of council, one and all, 
declared that the best road to men's hearts was 
through the stomach- — a sentiment most profound. 
This carried the day, and Colonel Butterworth was 
appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements. 

I may now proceed with my portrait. Go- 
vernor Butterworth was a good-looking man, 
upright in carriage, punctilious in manners, com- 
manding in address. A large scar on his temple 
might have been a telwar (sword) wound, but the 
ill-natured said it was owing to a nursery-maid's 
negligence. To end surmises, a carefully preserved 
military coat was shown as a proof of bravery 
seldom to be exceeded. A hole in that coat was 
pointed out to the astonished gaze : still envy sug- 
gested a remark that the hole was in the tail. 

Advanced to the charge of the Straits Settle- 
ments, Governor Butterworth sheathed his sword 
for a statesman's portfolio. He was anxious to com- 
pose the differences of his subjects ; and, fortunately 
for him, he had an able adviser in Thomas Church, 
who would rather have Butterworth governor than 
his rival Blundell. The intricacies of Chinese land 
disputes first engaged Butterworth's attention. 
True, legally, he had no right to adjudicate in these 
matters, as the causes should have gone to Her 
Majesty's Court of Judicature ; but it served the 
purpose of putting him into his saddle, and giving 
a virgin taste of power. He would puzzle himself 
in trying to unravel the intricacies of these disputes, 



GOVERNOR BUTTERWORTH. 



273 



even though he did not understand a single word 
uttered by the disputants, nor could he follow a 
single argument advanced. However, he always 
came to a verdict satisfactory to himself, which used 
to run to this effect, " that Kimying's cause com- 
menced in a maze of doubt, and ended in a labyrinth 
of uncertainty" The inquiring, woe-begone, incre- 
dulous expression of the Kimyings on such occa- 
sions was ludicrous to the bystander, however 
ruinous to the individual the verdict might be. 

Butterworth, with all his pomposity, had his 
troubles, such as they were. One cause of trouble 
and anxiety to him was an old Scotch merchant, 
whom, for the sake of perspicuity, I shall call Crab- 
winch. This merchant was rich, but radical in his 
politics and tendencies ; so he was highly popular 
and powerful. Butterworth had consequently great 
respect for old Crabwinch ; but Crabwinch would 
not condescend to call on his honour, so no acquaint- 
ance could be arrived at. Old Crabwinch swayed 
the European mind through the Chamber of Com- 
merce, and the native mind through Tomungong, or 
native chief ; thus, if respected by the East India Com- 
pany's high official, he was at the same time feared. 
Old Crabwinch drove fine chariots and horses, even 
to the eclipsing of Governor Butterworth's. And 
often did the two great men prance past each other 
on the evening parade ; but old Crabwinch was 
obdurate. He believed all men to be equal, so 
passed Butterworth without seeing him. This 

T 



274 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



independence raised the imaginary power of old 
Crab winch even the more. How often were coun- 
sels held to win his smiles and countenance ! For, 
were he gained, all the little presidency would bend 
the neck. 

Old Crabwinch was not approachable, by fair 
means or foul. This rigidity was not to be borne. 
The magnanimous Butterworth, duly considering 
the great interests in his hands, felt that abasement 
must be personally borne rather than the non- 
attainment of old Crabwinch's patronage. So, with 
an abrogation of self, he at last humbly took off his 
hat to the burly old Crabwinch, when passing in 
his chariot ; and thus he secured the long coveted 
friendship ! Old Crabwinch was a vain man ; he 
was also a greedy Scotchman, who cared for nothing 
but his own interests, and quickly was his con- 
descension turned to account. He got a grant of 
Pulo — for next to nothing, and sold it soon after- 
wards for 500/. profit. Ah, greedy, radical old 
Crabwinch ! 

One of Butter worth's greatest loves, was the 
love of his profession. He was constant in the 
enunciation of this : indeed, so much did he live in 
this his love, that he divided all mankind into 
colonels, captains, ensigns, sergeants, corporals, and 
privates. No private gentleman, in his estimation, 
had any rank in society. The wealthy merchant's 
lady ranked only as the wife of a sergeant-major, a 
clerk's as a corporal's, and a tradesman's as a pri- 



GOVERNOR BUTTER WORTH. 



275 



vate's. Wealth, birth, or learning, had no status 
under his government. The Emperor of all the 
Russias could not have more starched ideas on these 
subjects than had Butter-pot the Great. His ex- 
traction, it is true, was from behind the counter ; 
yet, with wonderful consistency, he drew a rigid line 
between tradesmen and gentlemen of no trade. 
The Lord Mayor of London himself, if he were a 
shopkeeper, could not have obtained admission to 
the little Singapore Government-House. Such con- 
tamination could not have been borne. True, But- 
terworth himself was the son of a shopkeeper ; but, 
by entry into the "closed service," an immaculate 
virtue had been acquired, which expunged all 
odour of " low caste 55 or ungenteel concomitants. 
Wonderful are the incongruities of human nature ! 
I well recollect buying a sixpenny book from the 
aproned brother of one of the great Butterworth/s 
darling military friends ! 

As is the case with all despotic potentates, But- 
ter worth was fond of sumptuous engineering works, 
which he erected for the same useful ends as the 
pyramid of Cheops, and by this he satisfied three 
purposes. 

1st. He got a lucrative appointment created for 
his brother-in-law. 

2nd. This was a handsome man in gorgeous regi- 
mentals, so he added not a little to a mean military 
staff. 

3rd. He got his name written on metal tablets 

t 2 



276 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



numerously ordered from Porto Novo, to fix against 
all his brother-in-law's erections. 

Thus the EHenborough market rose out of the 
swamps in lonely greatness, to record a friendship 
deemed by Butterworth illustrious. There it may 
yet be standing, with its hogged back, and its two 
ends, bowing to the ground as if in respect to its 
founder, and bearing abundant testimony to the 
brother-in-law's engineering skill ; but often were 
inquiries made as to its probable use. Next rose 
the Butterworth ghaut, a curious invention of 
stucco Ionic pillars, which, when complete, led the 
witty little editor of the Straits Times to com- 
pare them to drunken policemen supporting each 
other from falling. Then rose — or rather sank — 
the pons asinorum, at the Iiochor, a cause of fear and 
trembling to the Acheen ponies, and many sighs 
from Treasurer Church. 

Governor Butterworth sat daily in state to receive 
the adulations of great strangers, passing to and 
fro, from all corners of the earth. I think I see the 
superfine blue surtout, so uncomfortable to wear, yet 
borne, for the sake of example to the governed ; and 
well do I recollect the high pomp and circumstance 
that ravished the visitor's sight as he approached the 
portals of the Governor's office ! These were guarded 
by sumptuously clothed Indians, bearing silver 
clubs, on whose tops were savage lions' heads. 
With all his forced dignity, it must be admitted 
that Butterworth had not the refined perception of 



GOVERNOR BUTTERWORTH. 



277 



the true gentleman. Thus he was occasionally 
deceived in the position of his callers. One day, a 
stout person, dressed in full black, having a massive 
pinchbeck chain hanging to his waistcoat pocket, 
presented himself at the Governor's office door. His 
card was delivered by the piada (footman) ; it was a 
foreign one, and he was instantly admitted. The 
foreigner's portly appearance commanded at once 
Butterworth's most profound respect ; there seemed 
to be an intuitive attraction between equals. Butter- 
worth rose from his seat and clasped the stranger's 
hands, leading him at the same time to the seat of 
honour. The foreigner seemed nobly condescending, 
he possessed a charming and amiable humility, 
which appeared to the Governor the beau ideal of 
greatness. The stranger's accent was interestingly 
foreign, and nothing less than a German prince, or 
at least a baron, suggested itself. 

Butterworth was all smiles and courtesy, and, 
with due attention to the foreigner's words, he 
waited the development of the distinguished man's 
mission. At length, " Sar," said he, " I am de 
great magician vot trabels all ober de varld to make 
trick dat surprise de peoples, and I keep two girls dat 
do dance on de tightrope, and all de young men be 
fond to see !" At this announcement Butterworth 
raised his eyebrows and dilated his eyes with an 
expression of horror mingled with surprise, and 
shuddered involuntarily. The magician, continu- 
ing, came to the object of his mission — the Gover- 



278 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



nor's patronage. But the interview was now 
serious. Butter worth gave a gasp ; the magician 
ran for water, and the piadas rushed in. The poor 
magician was instantly laid hold of and pushed out 
of the office. 

I presume caste institutions do not exist in Ger- 
many as they did amongst the Hindooised English 
officials. The foreigner had ventured near the 
great man in ignorance of Anglo-Indian official 
routine. 

Butterworth, like all pompous men of plebeian 
origin, was very vain. He had no children, yet 
wished to belong a while longer to this world. A 
full-length portrait of himself would perpetuate the 
image of what had once been powerful in little 
things, important in small circles. He aspired to 
have this, and it was to be placed in the town-hall. 
This was his night and day thought. To this end 
he latterly gave many dinners, balls, and suppers to 
her Majesty's subjects ; and though I had left the 
Straits before he departed, I believe that the latter 
part of his rule was very popular by the above 
means, and that his darling wish was attained. 

He is now dead and gone, then Requiescat in 
pace ! say I. I have a system to illustrate, and I 
thought his portrait a characteristic one. The 
Bengal sepoy was at that time thought to be faith- 
ful ; the Indian civil servants thought highly of 
themselves ; thus they sat in overweening confi- 
dence of their great prestige. Wags, puppets, and 



GOVERNOR BUTTERWORTH. 



279 



incompetents were, at that time, thought to be good 
enough for high places, if they only had this essen- 
tial — a papa or uncle in the Directory. The Eu- 
ropean mercantile community cared little about 
local politics, so long as they were not disturbed. 
They had no permanent interest in the place, they 
looked only to temporary residence, so they were 
kept in good humour by trifles. A plum-pudding 
policy was all that was necessary to apply to them 
to gain their confidence and good will. Fortu- 
nately the subject of my present sketch attended to 
this material point, and succeeded, in the end, not- 
withstanding all his failings ; the result of a more 
than ordinary development of vanity and pom- 
posity. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

NATIVE BURIAL-GROUNDS. 

A few days will suffice to convince strangers in 
Singapore that native burial-grounds are to be met 
with in all directions. These are generally much 
neglected, and are overgrown with weeds and scrub, 
and often are they desecrated by the unsympathising 
Christian, Mahomedan, or Pagan, as may be. Roads 
are recklessly carried right through the bones of the 
original native settlers, and crowded streets now 
traverse the sacred places where many of the Singa- 
pore primeval worthies are laid in their last homes. 
Such sights were often to be seen of fresh human 
bones and coffins and humus sticking out of the 
sand by the roadsides, warning the fair young 
maiden of Western birth what might be her fate, 
were she laid in this land of apathy and regardless- 
ness. But the ponies are swift, as her carriage 
drives past, and there is no time for thought. 

The Malays seek out sand ridges or permatangs 
in which to bury their dead. The Chinese look out 
for round knolls and hill-sides. The Hindoos burn 



NATIVE BUKIAL-GrKOUNDS. 



281 



the bodies, so that nothing may remain of what 
was a living soul, having passions, wants, anxieties, 
loves, hatreds, bonds and agreements ! When neg- 
lect and desecration await the bodies of the dead, 
may the Hindoo not be right in his disposal of 
what was and now is not ? But let that pass. My 
business is now with the native burial-grounds, and 
let us go up to a Malay one first — say at Campang 
Gflani. Here will be seen numerous grave-marks in 
the shape of small ornamental posts or pegs. These 
denote the resting-places of the poor, and may 
sometimes have the year of the demise marked on 
them, but this is but seldom. After a long search, 
we may see some Arabic mottoes and sentences 
carved on these posts, and here is one that attracts 
attention. What is it ? There is a Malay sentence 
— this is very uncommon. Let us see what is the 
inscription : " Fatimah mati pada tarehk sanat, 
12 18." A short epitaph, this, and intelligible to 
very few Europeans, for it is in Jawi characters. 
The translation, however, is a simple one, and is to 
this effect, that " Fatimah died in the year of the 
Hegira, 12 18." And why should Fatimah have this 
attention given to her remains, that so few others 
around have obtained ? The historian knows not. 
Fatimah' s friends are unknown to him. In the 
rapid dissolution of Eastern families, they may be 
scattered over the Archipelago — one a slave here, the 
other a trader and slave-owner there. But the 
inscription is so uncommon that we may ponder and 



282 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



surmise. Might not Fatimah have been a young girl 
with black sparkling eyes, such as only Malays 
have, luxuriant glossy black hair, small smooth 
features, and putih laming (olive) complexion, 
which accords so well with the climate and tempera- 
ment of the Ear East ? It is probable that Fatimah 
was such, and that an early grave had drawn forth 
more sentiment than the habitual listlessness of the 
native generally permits. 

Dotted here and there, are the brick enclosures of 
the more wealthy natives ; but even here no inscrip- 
tions are to be seen, and so they are scarcely worth 
a visit, even if your visit do not bring down on you 
the wrath of some bigoted Mussulman, as an uncir- 
cumcised intruder. At the Kramat, on the Johore 
River, which is said to be the burial-ground of the 
ancient kings, even there a single name or date is 
not to be detected amongst the many fantastic head- 
stones which ornament that secluded and revered 
spot. 

The Chinese burial-grounds are very numerous, 
and cover large areas. The tombs are the objects 
of great attention of the family. The burial-grounds 
are under the surveillance of the heads of the clans 
to whom they respectively belong. Thus their 
desecration is not so common an event as with the 
Malay ones. The Chinese burial-grounds increase 
so fast that Singapore seemed likely to become a 
vast Chinese cemetery. All Chinese families which 
can afford it, have large spaces marked off as the 



NATIVE BURIAL-GROUNDS. 



283 



family depository. These are either built with brick 
or granite, according to means, and the names of 
those buried are written in black, vermilion, or 
gold. The burying-grounds of the Chinese are not 
places to be shunned, but are the sites for picnics 
and family plays. The last resting-places of the 
father, mother, sister, and brother, are visited with 
hilarity, and the feast is spread out that the manes 
of those gone hence may partake thereof. It is the 
widow only who indulges in grief ; and to listen to 
the vent of a Chinese widow's grief, would break 
your heart, it is so loud, so long, and so piteous ! 
She hangs over the tomb, and bewails her loss 
in tears and lamentations ; and within a few yards 
may be seen her children, her mother, her brothers, 
and sisters amusing themselves eating, laughing, 
talking, in the midst of perfect enjoyment. The 
scene puzzles the conjectures of the intruding Euro- 
pean, whose first impulse is to sympathise with the 
inconsolable lady, and whose next is to chide the 
heartless relatives. But this is better left alone, so 
he turns aside with curious thoughts, and finds, if 
he had not found it before, that the habits of a people 
differ in their genus, and that their manners are in- 
explicable to those who are not familiar with the lan- 
guage and social economy. The stranger does not 
know how much to place to real grief, how much to 
the rules of decorum and restraints of society ; but 
certain he may be that the actions of that bereaved 
family are all controlled by the inexorable powers 



284 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



of fashion and custom. These permeate with their 
influence all nations, whom they alternately blind, 
constrain, and even torture. If the indifference dis- 
played by the widow's relatives lead the stranger to 
suspect that the sounds of her grief are modulated 
to the dictates of fashion and custom, he will have 
learnt nothing new. For has not the Preacher ex- 
claimed three thousand years ago, that " the thing 
that hath been is that which shall he ; and that which 
is done, is that which shall be done : and there is no 
new thing under the sun " ? 



CHAPTEE L. 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY CHINESE.' 

The English ship " E. Walker" was on her voyage 
from Hong-Kong to Bombay, and on board of her 
were thirty or forty Chinese convicts who had been 
sentenced to be transported from the former place 
to the latter. As the Chinese felons behaved 
quietly on the voyage down the China Sea, they 
won the captain's confidence. The captain seems to 
have been a good-natured man, so he was kind and 
indulgent. In order to gain the captain's entire 
confidence, the Chinese worked at ship's duty, and 
ingratiated themselves the more by transhipping 
cargo in the harbour of Singapore. If the English 
in India have a weakness more glaring than any other, 
it is their self-esteem. The captain's self-esteem led 
him to believe that the villains had formed a 
personal love towards him, and he was loud in the 
praises of his faithful Chinese convicts, whom he said 
he would trust with anything. His friends warned 
him of the jeopardy in which his indulgence placed 
the ship, cargo, and passengers ; but no good result 
came of this timely interference. 



286 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



The ship weighed anchor, and sailed out of 
Singapore roads with the convicts all safe, and 
carrying at the same time several English gentle- 
men as passengers ; also one lady. And what was 
the destination of these Chinese convicts ? It was 
to a penal settlement where they would have to 
work in irons up to the waist in mud. They knew 
this, but the poor captain was blind in his trust, 
and no proper means were taken to secure his 
dangerous charge. 

The ship was only one day out, and at night was 
lying becalmed off the Carimon Islands, when 
suddenly the Chinese convicts rose, and in a few 
minutes murdered the captain and his first and 
second officers. The Bengalese crew took to the 
rigging, and remained safe till all was over. The 
passengers either bolted their cabin-doors, or jumped 
out of the stern windows. The distracted lady 
clung to her husband's neck, and they sat trembling 
awaiting their fate. The clamour was loud, but 
not long. There happened to be one brave English- 
man on board, and that was Mr. Gill, the third 
officer. He guarded the cabin-door with a cutlass 
vigorously and alone. Here he fought the whole 
insurgents, who brought picks, boat-hooks, muskets, 
and handspikes to bear on the devoted man. He 
stood firm and fought like a lion, laying several of 
the Chinese at his feet. But of what avail was one 
arm ? The hero's blood was drawn freely, and at 
length faintness came over him, and he sank covered 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY CHINESE. 287 

with wounds ! Many have died in more noble 
spheres, but few more worthily. 

The ship was now gained by the insurgents. 
They posted parties in all parts to guard themselves 
from surprise, and awaited dawn. An acquaintance 
of my own, then a young lad, was one of the 
passengers, and was one of those who leapt out of 
the cabin windows, and I will now relate his 
account of the after transactions. Finding himself 
in the water, and far from shore, he swam back to 
the ship, and regained the rudder ; here, immersed 
in the water up to the neck, he held on till morning. 
He felt that his life was hanging by a hair, and he 
held to that hair. When it was dawn, finding all 
was quiet on board, and it being a dead calm, he 
swam round to the gangway ladder, and begged for 
his life. This was granted him, and he was hauled 
on deck by his Chinese masters. Half dead with 
cold and terror, he was carried to the poop, where 
one other passenger, and the Manilla steersman, 
were held under guard by the Chinese, armed with 
the ship's pikes and muskets. These were the sole 
Christian survivors excepting the lady, of whom 
nothing was known at that time. Being now 
slightly reassured, my informant saw that the 
blood was being washed off the decks, the bodies 
thrown overboard, and the Bengalee Lascars were 
now obeying, with the utmost servility and respect, their 
new Chinese masters. Easy transition ! 

The Chinese now had time to consider their pre- 



288 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



dicament. Being still in the track of steam- vessels, 
their anxiety seemed to be to get away. But none 
knew the direction of China further than that it lay 
north-east, and that Singapore Straits were between 

4 

them and their country. Who was to steer them the 
course ? There were yet two white men on board, 
and, as a matter of course, the Chinese thought that 
they must be navigators ; so proceeding to the 
captain's cabin they brought up his best suit of 
clothes, and, pointing to the compass and China 
alternately, they signed to the whites their desire 
to be carried back. They brought the late captain's 
dress to put on the person who would volunteer 
to take the ship back to their country. It happened 
that neither of the whites understood navigation, so 
they both pleaded ignorance. The Manilla steers- 
man was next appealed to, but without effect, as he 
was also ignorant of the water, excepting by the 
Straits of Singapore, and he was not to be 
thought of. 

At length one of the Chinese themselves was 
elected captain for the day. So he donned the Eng- 
lish captain's clothes for that single day, resigning 
them next morning to another Chinese chosen in his 
place, and so on. A breeze sprung up by 10 a.m., 
and the Manilla steersman was ordered to put the 
ship's head south towards the Straits of Darien. 
The Lascars, goaded by their fears, energetically 
trimmed the sails. The European passengers were 
confined to their cabins, and thus several days and 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY CHINESE. 289 



nights passed. The whites were fed, but treated 
with distrust. The Chinese occupied the cabin and 
roundhouse. The Lascars were kept forward. 
What was to be the upshot no one could tell, but it 
was surmised that, on the coast of China being 
reached, all would be murdered, and that the ship 
would be scuttled. Hope nickered, and the heart 
palpitated. The end came sooner than was ex- 
pected; for during the forenoon, in fine weather, a 
shock was felt that made every one in the ship leap. 
She had grounded on a shoal, she then began to 
leak, filled with water, and so stuck immovably fast. 
Land was about a league off, and the smoke showed 
it was inhabited ; the boats were launched, and the 
Chinese made for the shore. On their landing they 
encountered Malays ; and the Malay chief, having 
suspicion that all was not right, surrounded the 
Chinese, and secured them. He next sent his 
retainers off to the vessel, and brought on shore the 
European passengers and crew, and with the rest the 
lady. 

The land turned out to be a group of islands 
called the Natunas, distant two days' sail east from 
Singapore. The shipwrecked were taken to the 
house of the chief and hospitably entertained, while 
a boat was despatched with intelligence of the wreck 
and capture to the authorities at Singapore. 

My old friend Captain Congalton was sent with his 
steamer to the relief of the passengers and crew, and 
also to take charge of the escaped convicts. It was 

u 



290 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



a mission on which his true British heart found 
genial scope. His thorough knowledge of the 
Malays enabled him to open correspondence of the 
most friendly nature with the islanders. His 
hospitality charmed and revived the spirits of the 
shipwrecked. As for the Chinese convicts, he put 
them in irons, and stowed them safely in his coal 
bunkers. 

Captain Congalton, as a gallant man and a 
bachelor, was solicitous about the treatment of 
the lady, but nothing transpired. Her husband 
spoke not a word on the subject, and the other 
surviving passenger knew nothing. Enough that 
she survived with her husband, and returned safely 
and happily to Singapore. The wife and female 
household of the Malay chief were assiduous and 
untiring in their attentions to the white lady. 
She was a phenomenon to them ; they had never 
seen one before, and regarded her with admiration 
and curiosity. The chief's wife was loud in her 
praises of her lady guest's beauty, amiability, and 
pleasing manners. These, in an English lady, always 
draw the sympathy and affection of the untutored 
denizens of barbaric regions. The chief's wife 
minutely related to the gallant captain all the dis- 
tresses and anxieties of her fair charge. Delicacy 
(a qualification better known in the civilized world) 
did not forbid her to open her whole thoughts to 
my friend, and she proceeded, in accents of com- 
miseration, to detail the state of the poor lady 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY CHINESE. 291 

when brought from the sinking vessel. " Tuan 
Capitan" said she, " hati karam de lihat" (My 
heart sank at the sight.) 

To proceed, the Chinese convicts were duly 
landed in Singapore, and lodged in jail. They were 
tried at the Supreme Court for piracy and murder ; 
but owing to a hot-headed judge having impatiently 
summed up to an unintelligent petty jury, the 
prisoners were brought in — contrary to plain 
evidence — Not Guilty. Thus they escaped the 
heavier punishment, and were transported to Bom- 
bay on their original Hong-Kong sentences. I 
watched the proceedings with interest, and with 
others felt considerable disgust at the termination of 
this strange and romantic adventure. One con- 
sideration had no doubt great weight with many 
who gave the subject their mature inquiry — viz., 
that no blood was spilt by the Chinese when once the 
heat of the fray was over. 



u 2 



CHAPTER LI. 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY MALAYS. 

The conduct of the Malay chief of the Natunas 
was thought by the English Government to be as 
praiseworthy as it was unexpected, that they did 
not know how to make enough of him. He was 
presented with such valuable presents, and treated 
with such consideration, as to draw the notice of his 
own Malay sovereign's attention. This attention 
was anything but favourable towards the vassal. 
He was mulcted heavily, and degraded for having 
presumed to correspond directly with the English. 
Thus the old Orkney adage was fulfilled, " Trouble 
comes of the shipwrecked." 

While dwelling on the bright example of this 
Malay chief, it is with sorrow that I now turn to an 
instance of Malay ferocity. The conduct of the 
Chinese convicts was humane beside that now about 
to be related. 

It was whispered about that an English vessel 
had been cut off in the Straits of Malacca, but this 
was surmise only. The truth at length came to 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY MALAYS. 293 

light through a letter from the Kajah of Perak to 
the English authorities of Penang, which bore 
information to the effect, that he had seized certain 
Malays who had arrived in his country in an 
English boat, and who at first could give no satis- 
factory account of themselves. They allowed that 
they had belonged to an English ship, which was 
burnt at sea. They had property with them 
evidently belonging to Europeans, which excited 
suspicion ; so they were seized on suspicion, and 
the whole affair then oozed out. A Malay cannot 
keep a secret from a Malay, nor can they trust 
each other when several are concerned in a plot. 

The mystery in all its details was soon in circula- 
tion, and I give it as I heard it related by natives 
as well as by the press. The barque "Pawn," 
commanded and ohrcered by Englishmen, and 
manned by Malays, sailed from Singapore by the 
Straits of Malacca. The Englishmen appeared 
neither to understand the language nor the habits 
of the Malays, so it was not to be wondered at that 
a misunderstanding should arise. There were two 
English ladies on board, the captain's wife and her 
sister. At the time of the tragedy the vessel was 
off the coast of Perak, and the first exciting cause 
was a trifling one — viz., the smoking of a cheroot. 
From what small things do great arise ! The head 
Malay, or tindal, as he is called, was smoking a 
cheroot in the fore-hatchway, where he ought not to 
have done so ; and this act being seen by the chief 



294 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



officer, a rope's end was applied across his bare back 
by way of making blacky understand in absence of 
the possibility of oral communication. Now, had a 
Malay done this to an English sailor, Jack would 
have up fist, and out with it at the moment ; not 
so with the Malay. The tindal, casting his cheroot 
aside, stood as mute as a statue. The chief officer, 
unconscious of danger, walked back to the poop ; 
and little did he suspect what turmoil was in the 
heart of that motionless, silent Malay man. The 
tindal was well known in the Singapore native 
trade as a smart, active seaman ; his character had 
been unimpeachable ; he had always been obedient 
to his commanders ; how then could ill have been 
anticipated of him ? Had the stroke been in private 
I believe no ill would have come of it ; but it had 
been given in presence of all his men. The insult 
stank in his very nostrils : it burned up his heart, 
and extinguished all humanity there. In its place 
a demon, cruel and bloody, took possession, as the 
sequel will show. The crew had seen the insult — 
few words passed that evening, for mischief was 
brewing. No skill or artifice was necessary to take 
possession of the ship, as the three Englishmen 
were unsuspicious of the mischief contemplated. 

In the silent watches of the night, the officer in 
charge of the watch was struck down from behind 
and stabbed till he was dead. In the same instant 
the captain and the other officer, hearing a scuffle, 
leaped out of their berths only to receive the same 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY MALAYS. 



295 



fate, a grateful death to what was awaiting the two 
innocent ladies. The captains wife had incurred 
the dislike of the Malay crew owing to her inno- 
cently having exacted certain cabin drudgery that 
no Mahomedans will undertake for Christians. In 
their demoniac spirit, the poor lady now in their 
power was the object of their cowardly Satanic 
revenge ; not the smallest atom of humanity seems 
to have been left in their licentious bosoms. The 
morose copper-coloured crew, whose spirit was little 
understood by the poor ladies, had been trans- 
formed into hellish fiends, susceptible of neither pity 
nor remorse. 

In their cabins they remained, the only slight 
refuge from the murderers of their protectors. Their 
little hearts palpitated with terror and the most 
excruciating agony. The young delicate ladies, the 
daughters of a happy, innocent, and secure English 
home, where love reigned triumphant, and where 
they tripped about the peaceful green lanes, far 
from all evil, now trembled from heart to knee 
in the agony of despair. The dreadful act — the 
murder of the captain — being accomplished, the 
crew rushed down to the cabin, yelling and howling 
fearfully. 

Half dead even now, the ladies were carried on 
deck and laid beside the weltering bodies of the hus- 
band, brother-in-law, and officer. Here the demons 
discriminated in the extent of revenge they were 
about to exact from their weak innocent victims, 



296 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



They lowered a boat, and throwing the dead bo- 
dies of the Englishmen into it, fastened them to the 
thwarts. They then loaded the boat with kent- 
ledge. This done, they bound the young lady 
hand and foot and lowered her down beside her 
dead companions. The worst cannot be related. 
The body of the virtuous English wife they lowered 
also down into the boat. They did not bind her, 
because she was already dead ! So much of the 
drama having been enacted, the Malays now scut- 
tled the boat, and the waters closed over the living 
body of one of England's fair daughters and the 
corpses of her fellow-voyagers. The other boats 
were now lowered and the ship set fire to. 

The enactors of this horrid tragedy were duly 
brought to justice before the Recorder's Court at 
Penan g. The leader denied not the charges and 
pleaded no justification. He said that death was 
his desert, and he was prepared to suffer it. He 
added that he had kena malu (met an insult) before 
his mates, and it was for them he died ; it was on 
their account that the English were murdered. He 
and the ringleaders were led to the gallows, and, as 
far as they could in this world, expiated a crime 
the most villanous and diabolical of which human 
nature is capable. 

The Malay, beyond all other nations, has a cha- 
racter for treachery and bloodthirstiness. His 
secret heartstrings are but little understood amongst 
the common run of Englishmen. The above tale 



AN ENGLISH SHIP TAKEN BY MALAYS. 



297 



is an exposition of a common course of acts that 
are termed " treacherous. " The Malay is high- 
spirited and careless of life, but he lacks effervescent 
energy. These attributes make him dangerous to ig- 
norant and thoughtless Europeans, for when insulted, 
in the manner above stated, he becomes mad with inter- 
nal passion. Whereas in the hands of men who 
know his temper and nature, and who judiciously 
comport themselves, even to strictness, he is pliant, 
obedient, faithful, if not affectionate. 



CHAPTER LII. 

MALAY MUTINY SUPPBESSED. 

An English vessel under the command of a Captain 
Latta, sailed out of Singapore with a dozen or so of 
Malay recruits, bound for Ceylon to join the rifle 
corps there. The voyage proceeded prosperously 
till the Straits of Malacca were about to be left. 
The recruits were young men who had enlisted at 
Singapore from various tribes of Malays frequenting 
that emporium. The enlistment there was carried 
on by an English lieutenant and small native re- 
cruiting party, born and bred in Ceylon. What 
arts may have been used to induce the restraint- 
hating Malay to join such a monotonous service I 
do not pretend to tell ; but certain it is, as this 
small party got to sea, they turned their forlorn 
looks to the wooded shores of Malacca, where they 
had been accustomed to gather the tampui and kale- 
dang fruit from the tall forest trees. There they 
roamed in savage liberty, which kind of life was 
dear to them, and the more so as now they found 
themselves unexpectedly in the iron grip of a 



MALAY MUTINY SUPPRESSED. 299 

Malayo-Cingalese sergeant, with whom they had no 
sympathetic ties. They looked with longing eyes 
at the receding shores ; a frenzy of regret overcame 
them at the thought that they would never see 
them more. They found that they had sold them- 
selves to strangers, and a death struggle must be 
made to regain their homes and their liberty. 

When a Malay intends mischief, he is silent ; 
and these brooded over their sad destiny in secret. 
They were young men, so had not skill in con- 
spiracy. The sun went down, and the night watch 
was set. The captain had retired to rest ; but, in 
this case, due vigilance was observed. Suddenly 
the young recruits sprang simultaneously on the 
officers and crew. They knocked down some, and 
overpowered others ; but were held in check till the 
captain and officers were called up. A native called 
Saiboo, well known to me, was one of the passengers, 
who, like all sensible natives, kept out of the way 
till one or other party was victorious. It is from 
his narrations that I relate what followed. The 
captain was a brave man, and, being armed, he with 
his officers soon beat back or shot down the Malays, 
and drove them down into the fore hatch. 

From hence they were called up, one by one, and 
well pinioned. This done, the captain put in for 
Penang to deliver the mutineers over to the au- 
thorities. 

Calm and light winds protracted the ship's pro 
gress for three days, and, in the meantime, the 



300 LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



Malays were kept pinioned with the most unswerving 
determination. Long and loud was their wailing ; 
many were their protestations of repentance, and 
deplorable were their prayers for mercy : but these 
were not listened to. Their bonds were cutting 
into their very flesh, and their agonies were excru- 
ciating, but not a particle of mercy was vouchsafed 
to them. Their piteous cries abated not a jot of the 
captain's unrelenting severity. 

At length they were landed at the jetty in Pe- 
nang ; but, on being delivered over to the authorities, 
it was found that the prisoners had living bodies 
but dead limbs. Their bonds had stopped the cir- 
culation of blood, and mortification had long set in. 
Their lives could only be saved by amputation. 
Such was the terrible remedy — such the fate of the 
Malay mutineers. Several of them were to be seen, 
for years, with no hands to eat with, — no feet to 
carry them. 

The captain was arrested and tried before the 
Recorder's Court for his cruelty ; but he was ac- 
quitted by a jury of his countrymen, who, in the 
first place, could not but admire his bravery and 
promptitude in saving his ship, passengers, and 
crew, whose fate would have been death by the 
kris. The jury also admitted the plea of want of 
knowledge of the danger of binding the limbs, in 
warm climates, where mortification and decomposi- 
tion set in so rapidly — a fact likely to be overlooked 
by a native of the temperate zone. Public opinion, 



MALAY MUTINY SUPPKESSED. 



301 



at first, condemned the captain ; but the quiet and 
orderly proceedings of an English court saved him. 
It is difficult to say that the judgment was not a 
correct one, when we recur to the tragedy of the 
"Fawn," though, in point of time, this occurred 
long subsequent to the trial of Captain Latta. 



CHAPTEE LUX 

A BLACK MAN MADE WHITE. 

Dumng the rule of Governor Butterworth, lie en- 
deavoured to enlist the native independent princes 
against the slave-trade, — a trade which has been 
ever active, from time immemorial till now, over 
the whole Malayan archipelago. The Governor's 
endeavours culminated in a great achievement, viz., 
that of making a black man white. So extraordinary 
an event cannot be left out of a full and true history 
of the times. 

The Rajah of Pahang, like a true Mussulman, 
considered slavery a necessary and comfortable in- 
stitution, well suited to his own and his country's 
domestic habits and social economy. While he 
held these views, he, at the same time, was anxious 
to defer, if not to minister to the strange prejudices 
on this subject entertained by his powerful white 
friend, the governor of the Tiga boah negri (the 
three settlements). An opportunity soon occurred 
for his making a great name ; for there was a boy 
belonging to some stranger Bugist, whose skin was 



A BLACK MAN MADE WHITE. 



303 



so white that he would pass muster as being of 
European origin. He had been brought from the 
negro land of New Guinea, where, no doubt, his 
own parents sold him into slavery, as a prodigy of 
no utility to them. But it was an easy matter to 
concoct another story — viz., that the lad had been 
stolen from his nursery-maid, on the coast of Java, 
by the Illanoons. This suggested the heartrending 
idea that there might be Dutch parents in Java yet 
bewailing the loss of their child. True, his eyes 
were as short-sighted, red, and hateful of daylight as 
an albino's ; and his large-jointed, lanky fingers, his 
small forehead, his curly, crisp hair, his scaly skin, 
and his prognathous jaws, were in exact keeping 
with the conformation of the true negro ; yet the 
tale was so good a one, and the time so opportune, 
to make favour with the credulous governor, that 
it must be hazarded. So a letter was dispatched to 
the Straits Government, promising hearty co-opera- 
tion in the great scheme for the extinction of 
slavery, and forwarding, as a token of real earnest- 
ness, the account of a poor white boy that had been 
taken from some traders, and now waiting the dis- 
posal of the English authorities. 

The Governor was delighted with the success of 
his influence in quarters hitherto considered incor- 
rigible. The finding of a white boy was also a 
master stroke of fortune, which would form the im- 
portant subject of a report several quires in length 
to the Supreme Government of India. Perhaps a 



304 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



knighthood might yet be in store for the illustrious 
name of Butter worth. The steamer " Hooghly " 
was dispatched at once to Pahang with orders to 
accept the white boy, and to use him with all due 
care and tenderness. The Bindahara of Pahang 
had been just in his surmises. An important hit 
in policy had been made ; and now the poor, miser- 
able, neglected, ragged, Papuan albino, was sought 
out of the bazaar, and handed over to the bluff cap- 
tain of the " Hooghly/' whose business, of course, 
was to act, and not to think 1 

The "Hooghly" hove anchor, and returned with 
her precious freight to Singapore. The boy was 
carried round all the public offices, to be stared at by 
the wondering officials. Old Burrows shook his 
head, but wisely said nothing ; and Willans was as 
prudent in this case as in all others. The great 
Butterworth said : " Here, Church, is a living ex- 
ample to posterity of the benevolence of my rule, in 
that poor, degraded, filthy boy, snatched from the 
ruthless pirates, whom my Government will never 
now tolerate for a moment. Now we have got him, 
we must provide for him, as becomes his caste (for 
Butterworth's long residence in India had made him 
half a Hindoo). I will in the meantime write to 
my friend, the Grovernor-Greneral of Netherlands 
India, to search out his parents, and what shall we 
do with him in the meantime ? The Indian navy 
wants engineers— let us make him one." 

It is needless to say that no parents were found 



A BLACK MAN MADE WHITE. 



305 



to own to the loss, so the boy was retained as an 
apprentice in the engineer's department of the 
Indian navy. I watched his progress for several 
years ; but, even then, his hands could neither hold 
a file nor a pin ; and he could never be made to 
comprehend either reading or writing. His future 
fate I do not know. 

He being a Papuan albino, I was interested in 
watching his ideas, motives, and actions, in his sud- 
den translation to the ruling class. For a negro to 
find himself suddenly an European was an uncom- 
mon circumstance, and well deserved attention. He 
was elated beyond measure, when his ragged native 
costume was taken from him, and snow-white shirt, 
trowsers, waistcoat, and jacket fitted upon him, with 
cap and shoes complete. He strutted about the 
room examining each button, opening and closing 
them, to the great merriment of himself and the by- 
standers. He then stretched out his arms and legs, 
amusing himself in every possible manner. Truly 
he had found himself a new man. Said he : " They 
called me a black man yesterday, but I am a white 
man to-day. I am one of the white race that own 
the big ships with the big guns that the Malays are 
so terrified for. A Malay man must now get out of 
my way when I walk along the street." Then he 
would march up and down the room, wabbling most 
uncouthly in his tights, in which he seemed most 
uncomfortably fixed. He next darted down stairs 
and ran into the streets, strutting and swaggering 

x 



306 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



like a true Briton. No longer did "he bend and 
cower like the poor denizen of the torrid zone. The 
poor man of the Arabian Nights Tales, who woke 
one morning and found himself to be a king, could 
not have been more extravagantly happy than was 
the black man who was thus made white. 



CHAPTEE LIV. 



WHAMPOA. 

Tau Ah Kee, or as lie is known by Europeans 
under the name of Whampoa, is a fit subject of 
notice before I bid good-bye to Singapore. He was 
a Chinese of Canton ; and, when I first knew him, 
he was a young, smart Chinese boy, assisting his 
father in a large shop in China town, Singapore. 
Whampoa' s trade was in supplying the shipping 
with beef, bread, and vegetables, and, after a few 
years of perseverance, he became a first-rate mer- 
chant and store-keeper. 

But as I always hated trade and detested the 
musty odour of a godown (warehouse), I need not 
speak of Whampoa's concomitants ; I will speak of 
him as I knew him in the character of a friend and 
a gentleman. I was acquainted with Whampoa for 
years before we became intimate. My first intimacy 
commenced when I was asked, along with other 
friends, to his orange garden at Toah Pyoh. Here 
a neglected garden which Whampoa had bought, 
he soon converted into a tasteful bel-retiro, with its 

x 2 



308 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



avenues, fruit orchard, hanging gardens, Dutch 
walks, dwarf bamboos, and orange trees — its shrubs, 
stags, and peacocks — its aviary and menagerie, all of 
which displayed fine taste, a healthy, robust love 
of the beautiful in nature, and of the artificial curi- 
osities of horticulture. Whampoa's mind was that 
of a country gentleman of the old school, — one 
whom a Vandyke, a Poussin, or a Gainsborough 
would have loved, admired, and sympathised with 
in his pursuits. But these rural and horticultural 
tastes were not the only accomplishments of Wham- 
poa. His business had brought him much in con- 
tact with European gentlemen, and especially with 
officers of Her Majesty's navy. A night or two at 
Whampoa's country-house was a treat to a purser 
of a three-decker, or even to an admiral. And 
Whampoa's hospitality knew no bounds, for the 
many years that I had the pleasure of his acquaint- 
ance. From constant contact with the officers of 
the navy, and masters of the mercantile service, he 
had acquired an English sailor's habits of thought 
and style of conversation. These, at times, though 
manly and jolly, were more bluff than polished. 
But what of that ? The heart was sound and the 
intentions generous. Many a happy party I have 
met at Whampoa's hospitable table, at both of his 
country-houses. The company was generally Euro- 
pean, Chinese friends were occasional, nor did I ever 
meet more joyous company, more truly pleasant 
entertainment. 



WHAMPOA. 



309 



The table was laid in the most approved European 
fashion— crockery, silver, glass, viands and wines. 
A sprinkling of the navy, with a modicum of the 
mercantile, always tended to make conversation 
spirited, intellectual, and interesting ; and when the 
champagne had moved round, the song and the 
laugh resounded in the hall, and such jolly songs 
and such hearty laughs ! Now Whampoa was in 
his glory. He was a moderate man, and drank 
sparingly, but he caught the infection, and joined in 
the fun. His turn for a song came. Here was a 
poser. His company did not know Chinese, and 
he did not know an English song. " It's all very 
fine for you to ask me to sing ; but I know you 
will laugh at me." He is still pressed, and his 
good-nature overcomes his modesty. He performs 
a Chinese ditty. I shall not say he sings one, for 
that would not convey the idea to the English 
reader. It would, in fact, be unhandsome of me to 
compare Whampoa's song to anything. I have no 
doubt it was a very good song — in Chinese. To his 
English guests the notes sounded discordant, shrill, 
and grotesque. Those amongst the company who 
were not habituated to Chinese music, had their 
risible nerves affected to such a degree that their 
situation was painful indeed. If a hearty burst of 
laughter broke out, Whampoa was not the man to 
take umbrage. He had seen too much of the world 
not to understand that every nation has its customs, 
every people its peculiar notions. 



310 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Whampoa visited his European friends, and I 
had great pleasure in entertaining him sometimes. 
I was fond of painting, and Whampoa, looking 
round the dining-room covered with oil paintings, 

would exclaim, " Oh, Mr. , I wish I could 

scratch as well as you." He spoke English fluently, 
yet he had not that critical knowledge of the 
language as to enable him to distinguish between 
words nearly alike, such as the difference between 
scratch and sketch, I used frequently to joke him 
about this. His father was about' to leave for 
China; and Whampoa, with that filial love for 
which the Chinese are distinguished, asked me, 

saying — " Oh, Mr. , do make a scratch of my 

father's face before he goes, so that I may hang it 
up in my hall." 

" I will," replied I, laughing, " scratch his face for 
him — " 

" Come, come," said he, " no gammon ; do it 
like a good fellow." 

I need not say that I complied with the desire of 
so dutiful a son, and I had the pleasure to see the 
painting preserved with honourable care and attach- 
ment. 

Reader, I am writing about a Chinaman — a man 
who wore a long plaited tail hanging down from the 
crown of his shaven head ; who dressed in loose 
silk or cotton garments, and wore thick-soled shoes. 
The caricature of such a man may be seen on any 
of your tea-cups or soup dishes, and China caddies. 



WHAMPOA. 311 

Once you knew him, you would easily perceive that 

he was a man whose actions, motives, loves, joys, 
and griefs were all hinged on the same great principles 
as your own. There was not a whit of difference. 
The first of Christian principles — that all are equal 
in the sight of our Maker — was conspicuously 
proved. I may add that, so far as I was acquainted 
with Whampoa, he was a man of upright conduct, 
whether in business or private life. I believe that 
he is still living, and if so, I hope that he still 
remembers the friend who scratched his father's 
face. 



CHAPTEE LV. 

MALACCA ONCE MOKE. 

Malacca, famed in Malayan and Portuguese annals, 
has fallen from its high estate, and degenerated into 
the China baba's Brighton. Here the rich Chinese 
merchants of Singapore resort for pleasure and 
recreation ; here they makan angin (inhale the air), 
and benefit by the change, from the close office and 
store, to the freedom of an idle town, in the same 
way as do the manufacturers of Manchester or the 
merchants of Liverpool seek renovated health in 
the idle towns of Scarborough, Buxton, or Beau- 
maris. 

Malacca will repay a visit, for it has a history 
and reminiscences of the past. The monuments of 
Malayan empire are gone. There is not a vestige, 
excepting in the name, to recall the deeds of Sultan 
Mansur Shah; but of the succeeding rulers of 
Malacca — viz., the Portuguese — a noble ruin stands 
on St. Paul's Mount, and there its grey-worn walls 
recall to memory the heroism of an Albuquerque 
and the devotion of a Francis Xavier. The ruin 



MALACCA ONCE MORE. 



313 



now presents a perfect museum of old worthies as 
recorded on their tombs, the most remarkable of 
which is an old flat stone covering the grave of the 
second bishop of Japan, dated 1511. A reminis- 
cence of what once was, but is not now — a Pagan 
empire on the verge of Christianity. Here, along- 
side of the ancient bishop, are the bodies of the 
magnates of the succeeding government — viz., that 
of the Dutch. Here lie the upper coopmen, or chief 
merchants. Here also lie the bodies of the landed 
aristocracy, whose names have become household 
words in Malacca, and whose descendants yet bear 
their crests, perchance not their virtues. 

There is more in Malacca than one at first sight 
would imagine. It is an aviary full of the most 
beautiful birds. Birds of the most magnificent 
plumage are found in its forests. It is a garden 
full of the most luscious and rare fruit-trees. 
Gardens and groves extend in all directions ; and 
each fruit, in its due season, delights the palate. 
Its sea is like a piscatorium full of the most delicate 
fishes. Its soil is full of the valuable tin ore : in its 
mountains are gold, and in its forests are gums, 
drugs, and dyes. 

But all this is nothing compared with the men of 
Malacca. Here is an ethnographical puzzle which 
would pose a Pritchard, a Bunsen, and which, no 
doubt, has puzzled a Crawfurd. Here the Hindoo 
features are most remarkably apparent in that Chi- 
nese, with shaven head and long tail ; there that 



314 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



coal-black woolly-headed personage calls himself a 
Portuguese ; and yonder fair, flaxen-haired, blue- 
eyed youth says he is a Malay. Again, that yellow- 
skinned, oblique-eyed, flat-faced, snub-nosed gentle- 
man says he is a Dutchman. The climate of Ma- 
lacca is a surprising one in creating such incongrui- 
ties. In two generations an Englishman becomes 
a Negro, a Chinaman a Chitty, a Malay becomes a 
Brahmin, and a round lusty German changes into 
a dried-up leather-jawed Arab. 

The languages are soon forgotten, and all merge 
into the universal Malay. Not to say that broken- 
Dutch-English-and-Portuguese are not used ; but 
these are enunciated in the Malay idiom, so that 
they are so disguised as not to be understood ex- 
cepting by true-born Malacca men. 

But the most amiable part of the Malacca man 
has not been mentioned ; this consists in his absence 
of religious prejudice. The Buddhist, Brahmin, 
Catholic, Protestant, and Mahomedan, each assist 
at each other's festivals, and join with ardour in the 
ceremonies. A cursory glance would convince the 
looker-on that indeed men were all of one mind 
here, and that the coming event was about to 
arrive. How could it be otherwise ? Though Ma- 
lacca has its representatives of all nations in the 
world, yet they are so mixed up with each other, 
that toleration on the broadest basis alone would 
secure the peace of society. The proud East India 
Company's civilian is a blood relation of the babas, 



MALACCA ONCE MORE. 315 

inches, tombies, heers, and si-anoos. He sits on 
the very pillar of state, he is truly the Corinthian 
capital, resting on a parti-colonred shaft and base- 
ment, glorious to behold, even though the shaft be 
not thoroughly cemented, and the basement may be 
held together with mud. 

I have said that Malacca is the China baba's 
Brighton — it is his Elysium on earth, for here he 
rolls in the lap of luxury, here he luxuriates in plea- 
surable excitements suited to his tastes and instincts. 
The Portuguese band is engaged for boating excur- 
sions and pic-nic parties. The drum beats merrily, 
and the fife sounds cheerily. The balls and suppers 
of English watering-places are unknown here : the 
Chinaman loves to keep all the delights of female 
society to himself. However tolerant he may be to 
the outside world in other matters, in this he is as 
weak and jealous as a lascivious mind and lewd ten- 
dency can make him. 

A few miles distant from Malacca are the Water 
Islands, a great place of resort for the Malays on 
the occasion of the Mahomedan feast of the goat. To 
this island, which is covered with wood, and which 
is four miles distant from the shore, thousands of 
Malays repair from all parts. They come in boats, 
with their families, and camp on the shore, to feast, 
make merry, and enjoy themselves in collecting 
shells and catching fish. Here families make ac- 
quaintance, and young men find partners. A con- 
stant hum of rejoicing continues for days ; what 



316 



LIFE IK THE FAR EAST. 



with musical instruments, singing, drumming, and 
fiddling, the very island seems a living surface. 
The waters of the Straits being calm as a mill-pond, 
and the island being well out from the shore, the 
scene is such as is seldom to be witnessed in 
other parts of the world. This gathering is a cus- 
tom peculiar to Malacca people, and deserves notice. 
I have since heard that a holy man from Mecca has 
put a stop to the custom, for what reason is best 
known to himself. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

SUNGEI BAEOO. 

On a certain day I had returned from the interior 
of Lingei River, and was now anchored off Pan- 
gallan Ballah, whose white glistening sands and 
smooth bay enticed me to land ; but my Malay 
crew described a place far into the country as being 
well worthy of a visit, so I determined to push on 
and make the recommended examination. The Pen- 
gulu Mukim Kadir Meyden was sought out, and he 
at once agreed to go along with us, to show the 
road and point out curiosities. We proceeded for 
four or five miles through a low scrub — a fit retreat 
for the snake, the tiger, and the elephant, but we en- 
countered none. I soon found Kadir Meyden to be 
an agreeable and obliging companion. He was an 
Indo-Malay, and was very loquacious and minute 
in his description of Sungei Baroo, and of all the 
gardens, families, properties, &c. &c, so that we 
were pretty well acquainted with it before we 
arrived. The day was a warm one, the vertical 
rays of the sun beat down on our heads, but a 



318 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



Chinese paper umbrella, which I always carried over 
me, enabled me to defy Apollo in all his majesty 
and greatness. Kadir Meyden was a lean active 
man, of fifty or fifty-five years of age. I was de- 
lighted to see something purely rustic in Malacca 
territory, and Kadir Meyden was the example. 
Neither indolence nor voluptuousness was de- 
picted in his features ; he had either been rice- 
planting or gardening all his life. 

Having penetrated through the scrub, we came 
upon a cocoa-nut grove. "Here," said Kadir 
Meyden, "tuan (you), sir, shall have a drink of the 
nicest cocoa-nut milk grown in Sungei Baroo. It 
is as sweet as syrup, and fit beverage for my white 
friend." On this, with surprising agility, he 
mounted one of the tallest stems, and pulling off 
a full bunch, he brought it carefully down with 
him to the ground. With his billhook he soon 
pared the husk off the nuts, and making a hole 
in the end of them, presented me with as agreeable 
a treat as I ever had. The milk was sweet and 
deliciously refreshing, after our long walk in the 
sun ; and after having drunk off the milk, we cut 
the husk in two, and scraped out the soft kernel, 
which, being young, had not yet hardened. This 
is not only very palatable, but very nourishing. 
Having refreshed ourselves, and rested awhile, we 
now dived into the umbrageous fruit plantations 
with which Sungei Baroo abounds. Here all Ma- 
layan fruit-trees were to be seen in the greatest per- 



SUNGEI BAHOO. 319 

fection. " There," said Kadir Meyden, " is a seree 
vine of such gigantic proportions that it is the sole 
support of the widow woman who owns it." 

Having examined the wonderful vine, we pro- 
ceeded on our way, and soon emerged into the beau- 
tiful valley Sungei Baroo, at this time covered with 
golden rice-crops, just ready to be cut. The valley 
was serpentine; and was bounded, on either side, 
by rich fruit and palm groves. The sun was now 
descending, and cast its rich and mellow rays over 
the landscape, burnishing the middle-ground with 
gold and warm sienna tints, and the distance with 
purple. The view was most lovely; and I ex- 
claimed, in my enthusiasm, " Truly this realizes the 
poet's fancy, and excels the painter's imagination ! " 

" Well," said I, " Kadir Meyden, if there were a 
spot in the Far East that I could settle down in with 
happiness and contentment, it would be here. It 
is a lovely oasis in the wilderness of forest. Nature 
almost spontaneously provides for your every want. 
I am sure you must be the happiest man alive, to 
be a native and a land-owner in this magnificent 
retreat !" 

This allusion to Kadir Mey den's private feelings 
touched a discordant note. 

" Ah, Sir !" said he, "I am just out of Malacca 
jail. I had ruma tang ah, harta banda, bindang dan 
kuboon (house, valuables, rice-fields, and planta- 
tions) ; but I mortgaged them to a chitty to pay 
the expenses of my son's wedding. My sons are 



320 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



lazy, libidinous, and profligate ; my daughters had 
to be portioned to obtain suitable matches for them ; 
so that, what with one expense and another, added 
to the usurious bunga wang (interest), I have been 
reduced to poverty ; and had it not been for the 

assistance of Berchy , the Dutchman, I should 

not have had either food or drink. I am a poor, 
miserable man ; and, as to my neighbours, if they 
be not meddling with each other's wives, they are 
ham-stringing each other's buffaloes, or smoking 
opium, gambling, and cheating." 

With this practical account of the state of Sungei 
Baroo as it was, I thought little more of what it 
appeared to be, — the old adage was exemplified, 
that it is not all gold that glitters. If I moralized 
that evening, as we returned to the beach, it was on 
the vanity of human desires, the futility of human 
wishes. 



CHAPTER LVIL 

THE KISSANGr. 

The British territory of Malacca is bounded to 
the south-east by the Kissang river. I think this 
river worthy of notice, even though of small 
importance ; for on its banks are disclosed, in an 
eminent degree, all the wild features of a primeval 
Malayan country. It is entered from the sea over 
very extensive mud-flats, which are infested with 
alligators. 

It was at three o'clock one morning when I at- 
tempted to get into it by means of a small canoe, 
manned by four Malays. Small as our canoe was, 
we stuck on the bar ; and so afraid were the Malays 
of the alligators, that they would not venture out 
of the canoe to push it over, so we had to wait 
patiently till the tide rose. Once inside the bar, we 
found the Kissang a dull sluggish river, bounded 
by mangroves for several miles up. After this, 
alternate lalang (long grass) plains succeeded tall 
forests. The forests here abound in elephants and 
rhinoceroses. Snakes and serpents hang on the 



322 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



jutting branches of the forest trees, and alligators 
float in the water. There being very few inhabit- 
ants, the beasts of the forest, and reptiles of the 
waters, have it all to themselves. In the forests 
the trumpeting of the elephants was frequently 
heard, and also the rush of the rhinoceros through 
the tangled branches. The alligators were so tame 
that we struck them with our paddles before they 
would condescend to sink to the bottom. This 
afforded great sport to the Malays, who hate the 
reptile, and are glad to get a poke at him. We as- 
cended till within a few miles of Grunong Ledang 
(Mount Ophir), a majestic mountain, towering over 
the adjacent hills and plains. Here the scenery was 
magnificent, wild, and rugged. The forest trees, 
reaching two hundred feet in height, rose out of 
the foreground, in most fantastic order, and huge 
creepers and orchideous plants hung to them in 
graceful festoons. Such scenery as this presented 
many a study for the admirer of nature. 

To those who would search for glimpses of majestic 
tropical scenery, wild and uncultivated, the Kissang 
is worthy of attention ; and if the visitor be a sports- 
man, the wild animals of the forest will give him 
ample scope. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

ABDULLA BIN ABDUL KADER MOONSHEE. 

There was one man of note in Malacca, and he 
shall be the subject of the present sketch. His 
proper address is given above ; but he was better 
known amongst the natives as Abdulla Padre — that 
is, Abdulla of the priests or missionaries. He was 
a teacher of the Malayan language, by profession ; 
and his name must be long associated with the first 
English missionaries to the Far East ; for he gave 
them active assistance, both as their teacher of the 
language, and as the translator of their printed 
Scriptures. 

He did a rare thing amongst the Malays. He 
wrote an ample autobiography in the Malayan 
language ; and in it he informs us as follows, which 
I translate for the benefit of my readers : — 

"Now my ancestor was an Arab of the country 
of Yemen, and by race he was a Yemenite. His 
name was Abdul Kader, and his profession was that 
of a teacher of languages and religion. And it 
came to pass that he left Yemen and came to the 

y 2 



324 



LIFE IN THE FAB EAST. 



leeward countries {i. e. to the East), and settled at 
the town of Nagore ; and having taught the people 
there for some time in the above subjects, he took 
to himself a wife. By her he had four sons, — one 
named Mahomed Abraim, another named Mahomed 
Deesa, another Noor Mahomed, and the fourth Zain 
Alabeedin. And it came to pass that he died ; and, 
after he was dead, his sons journeyed to these leeward 
parts. He that was called Mahomed Abraim came 
to Malacca ; and he took a wife, whose grandson I 
am. Her name was Perbaji, and she was the 
daughter of Sheik Meerali. To her was born my 
father, and to whom they gave the name of Abdul 
Kader, so as to be named after his grandfather. 
And the three other brothers went to Java, (of 
whom) Mahomed Deesa went to Amboyna, where 
he had wives and children. Noor Mahomed went 
to the country of Sadayoo, where he had children 
and grandchildren ; and Zain Alabeedin went to 
Samarang, where he stayed with his children till he 
died. 

" To proceed, my father maintained a respectable 
position in Malacca, so when he had finished read- 
ing the Koran, he studied Tamul and arithmetic ; 
and when he had perfected himself in these, he 
commenced to trade ; taking goods into the interior 
of Malacca, buying and selling. And he followed 
this occupation for some time, now trading, at other 
times teaching the people in the interior in the 
modes of reading and praying, and such like, also as 



ABDULLA BIN ABDUL KADEB MOONSHEE. 



325 



to the things pertaining to the religion of Islam. 
Under such circumstances, he became a great 
favourite with the people, so they got a wife for 
him, and besides appointed him preacher in a 
village called Lobah Kupang. He remained there 
for some time, and then shifted to Sungei Baroo, 
being resident there as preacher. Here a son was 
born to him, called Mahomed Ally, also a daughter 
named Shereefeh. 

u Now my father was learned in Hindee, also in 
writing and accounts ; further, as regards languages, 
especially the Malay. In this he was apt in writing 
and composing, also in letter writing to Malay 
princes. Such was the mode of his making a living 
at that time. He also taught an English gentleman 
called Mr. Marsden (the famous Malay scholar) in 
Malay grammar. And that gentleman gave him a 
certificate as a proof of this. And I have got this 
certificate in my father's chest. And I showed it 
to Missionary Thomson ; for at that time I did not 
know a single word of English, especially the 
writing. And when Mr. Thomson saw it, he said 
' This is called a " character," in the English lan- 
guage, given to your father by Mr. Marsden, the 
same that composed the Malayan dictionary. A 
token of his having been taught by your father for 
a period of twenty months in Malacca.' 

" Now after this, all my father's relatives in 
Malacca were very desirous that he should marry in 
Malacca, and it happened that my father fell into a 



326 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



dangerous sickness. So the men of Malacca went 
and fetched him to Malacca. After this he got 
divorced from his wife of Sungei Baroo, and some 
time afterwards, on his return to Malacca, they got 
him married to my mother in Malacca. This was 
in the year of the Hegira 1200. My mother's race 
was Hindoo, their native country was Keddah, and 
when her friends came to Malacca they became 
Mahomedans. So she was born at Malacca, and 
her name was Salama." 

So much for Abdulla's antecedents. At the time 
I knew him, he was a man of about fifty years 
of age. He was a teacher of the Malayan language, 
and I was his pupil. He was very desirous that I 
should translate his autobiography into English, but 
I then had no leisure for such a work. It would 
have filled two large-sized volumes. Abdulla was 
tall, spare, energetic, of bronze complexion, oval 
faced, high-nosed, and cross-eyed. He spoke broken 
English, but understood it pretty well in general 
conversation. 

He had served in Sir Stamford Raffles' office as a 
Malay writer, but his principal connection was with 
the English Protestant missionaries, who were sent 
out some forty or fifty years ago by the London 
Missionary Society, and it was interesting to observe 
the effect of such a connection on his mind. He 
was a staunch Mahomedan, yet, notwithstanding 
this, it was clearly perceptible that his opinions had 
been much modified. He held some of the mis- 



ABDULLA BIN ABDUL KADER MOONSHEE. 327 



sionaries in the highest respect, especially Mr. 
Milne, of the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. 
Under them, Abdulla had learnt a freedom of thought 
and an independent tone not often found in the southern 
Asiatics. 

We had frequent arguments, religious and meta- 
physical. Polygamy was evidently a subject shunned 
by him, not that he did not adhere to the Mohame- 
dan law and practice on this subject, but that it was 
disapproved of by the missionaries, his employers. 
The evils of polygamy were less apparent to him than 
to the European. His arguments in support of it, 
besides the law of the Koran, were much the same 
as those adduced by Bruce, the Scotch Abyssinian 
traveller, viz., that women, in the tropics, were old 
at the age of twenty-five, while the man was young 
till he was fifty-five. Hence, if a woman and 
man marry at fifteen, as they generally do in the 
tropics, nature had ordered just four women for one 
man. Another argument was, the impossibility of 
cherishing a woman who might turn out dis- 
agreeable, wicked, or quarrelsome. Under circum- 
stances such as the above, it were better to divorce, 
or get another. He would at the same time state, 
as I was already aware, that the poorer classes of 
Mahomedans rarely had more than one wife at a 
time, but admitted that they were much given to 
divorce and re-marriage. Further, where there was 
so much poverty, a quarter of the population only 
could afford to marry : thus, by allowing a plurality 



328 



LIFE IN THE FAK EAST. 



of wives to the rich, the helpless women were pro- 
vided for without shame or disgrace to themselves, 
and thus many were rescued from degradation, loath- 
some disease, and premature death. To this I would 
reply that prostitution was as common in Mahome- 
dan countries as in any other, and that unnatural 
crimes were more so ; and even if this were not the 
case, that his arguments in no way detracted from 
the high moral tone and standard that is given to 
society by the example of virtuous husbands and 
wives remaining faithful to each other till death 
separated them. Such an example promoted virtue 
in the children when this was the standard of morals 
in all families ; that a nation made up of such 
families must be strong in its integrity, faithful to 
its responsibilities, honourable in its destiny. When 
we regard the Mahomedan nations of the earth, we 
must admit that they have rather been strong to 
overturn and destroy, than to conserve and pro- 
mote civilization and prosperity. They had 
never permanently overcome strong nations, but their 
sway had been confined to weak and effeminate 
ones. 

But let that pass, and look to individual families. 
The father who has several wives and concubines, 
in what manner can his children look upon him and 
each other? They must look upon him with dis- 
respect, and on each other with distrust. The sons 
of different living women are the sons of rivals in 
affection, so they become the rivals of each other. 



' ABDULLA BIN ABDUL KADEB MOONSHEE. 329 

A house divided against itself shall be the heritage 
of the stranger. 

The sons cast the imputation of hawa nafsu 
(sensuality) on the father that gave them life. The 
father sees the sons following in his own footsteps, 
and dare not advise or restrain (this touched poor 
Abdulla to the quick). Thus, again, the parent is 
divided from his sons by a great gulf. When he 
grows old he is lonely in his affluence, and his 
great anxiety is to build his own tomb, so that his 
body may not be cast to the dogs. He cannot trust 
this sad filial office to those that follow him. Ab- 
dulla would now be out of all patience, and would 
get angry, so we would have little more to say to 
each other that day, but he would come the next 
dav to attack what he was convinced was the weak 
point of Christianity. 

Having settled down to our task, next day, 
Abdulla would not be long in suggesting that as we 
argued on polygamy yesterday, we should have a 
talk over the Trinity to-day. He would continue : 
" There is no God but one Grod, is the true faith. 
This is consistent with reason, for it is a moral im- 
possibility, it is an absurdity, that one can be three, 
and three one. I buy three ducks in the bazaar, and 
am told that there is only one duck. Now, master, 
how do you get over this ?" 

" Well, Abdulla," I would say, " I do not pretend 
to be learned in theology, nor is it possible for me 
to explain all the mysteries of our faith. The very 



330 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



name of God the Almighty, the Incomprehensible, 
the Omniscient and Omnipotent, would suggest the 
profanity of attempting to lay open and explain all 
the mysteries of our great Creator. Suffice it for 
me to say, that the Trinity in Unity is a matter of 
faith in which millions of Christians live and die. 
The foundation of their belief is in their holy 
Scriptures. But if this answer does not satisfy as 
probably it does not, I again ask you, if you think it 
necessary to understand everything that you believe ? 
You cannot say that it is ; for even the profoundest 
philosophers could not attain to a knowledge of 
the origin of the universe. They cannot give you a 
measure of the smallest fraction of eternity. God is 
Eternal. Then how could they apply human reason 
to unfold and explain the Eternal Deity, the great 
Maker of all ? Philosophers do name and classify 
the component elements of God's works, and 
examine their relations and qualities. Of their 
creation, they can know nothing, much less then of 
their Creator. 

" In your autobiography, I see you have made a 
happy illustration of the knowledge of mankind. It 
is much akin to another made by the great Dr. 
Chalmers. He compares man to one looking out 
from the bottom of a deep well. You have com- 
pared him to a frog below a cup, the interior of the 
cup you call man's range of thought. You have 
made it to be very limited. 

"You say 4 seeing is believing,' and that you are 



ABDULLA BIN ABDUL KADER MOONSHEE. 331 

not bound to believe what your eyes do not see, 
that your hands do not feel, nor that your ears do 
not hear. Then look at that moon just rising over 
the sea horizon. You say, that its upper limb is 
above the horizon ?" 

" Certainly," said Abdulla, " because I see it, so 
I believe it, and not otherwise." 

" Well," said I, " though I see it, I believe that 
it is not above the horizon. It only appears to be 
above the horizon to your sight ; but it actually is 
not. And had you studied the works of God, as 
displayed in the science of astronomy, you would 
be of my belief. It is what is called refraction that 
makes the moon appear to be above the horizon, 
before it actually is. Then why object to the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, because your mind, and mine, 
cannot account for it ?" 

" Well," said Abdulla, " you must not object to 
my faith either, for I have our holy Scriptures in 
the Koran for my guide." 

" Very good," said I, e< Abdulla ; then refrain 
from calling our holy mysteries absurd." 

" But," he would add, " you surely do not believe 
that Jesus could be the Son of God, He was only 
a man ; though we admit that he was the greatest 
of the prophets. He could surely never be God's 
equal. Our faith teaches us to call ourselves hamha 
Allah (God's slaves). It would be profanation to 
say that even Jesus could be anything else in this 
world." 

• 



332 



LIFE IN THE FAR EAST. 



I replied, " I must give much the same answer 
as previously. If God made the universe, — if He be 
the Almighty, — then it follows that all things must 
be possible with Him, even to His only-begotten Son 
appearing in the actual man, whose image is of 
God. We are taught in our holy Scriptures to call 
Grod our Father ; we are, therefore, His children. 
You are taught to call yourselves His slaves. Thus 
our religion must be the better of the two, as it 
brings us nearer to Him." 

Such were our discussions. They may be crude, 
but the heat of argument and zeal was not the less 
on either side. Abdulla, though so long under the 
tuition of Protestant missionaries, and though well 
acquainted with the New Testament, was never 
converted ; and I have since learned that he died 
in the faith of the Koran. He seemed to be con- 
vinced that it was sufficient for him. Burrows has 
said that the faith of the Mahomedan is strong. 
We may revert to the subject again. 



THE END. 



LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET 
AND CHARING CROSS. 




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